The Currency of Language

While greeting children and parents one morning, I had the occasion to talk with a mother of a six-year old boy, Jonas. She and I talked about using appropriate language around children when she said, “I had a surprise the other morning. Jonas asked me, 'Mom, so long as I am not angry, can I use a swear word to explain something?'”

The mother, with some trepidation, was curious as to what was on her son’s mind, and said, “Jonas, it’s okay to use it with me when you have to explain something.”

You could just see the wheels turning in his head; this was the passport Jonas needed to begin to clarify what was on his mind, and before Mom could encourage him further, Jonas said, “Dad said f---.”

“Oh, that's not good.” was her immediate reply, with raised eyebrows.

She went on to explain to me that they have a system in place in their house that when Jonas says a word like “whatever” or “fine” with a bit of attitude, he has to pay her 25¢ out of his bank. Knowing this, Jonas pursued his ultimate point, “I guess that we should charge Dad $2.00 for what he said, huh.”

Bit by Bit

The heads of school for the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) had the opportunity to hear Mark Hurst at its annual conference. This post originally appeared on June 21, 2008. Mark was well received, entertaining, and immensely informative.

Who would have known that those magical zeros and ones that I taught in earlier math classes would power our economy, vehicles, communication, and lives. The bits that make up the basic binary number system confounds the most technologically literate when you realize that computers and programming are about switches either being on (1) or off (0).

Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload by Mark Hurst is both basic and helpful to those who readily use computers and the Internet. Hurst's book defines bit overload, i.e. too much information, and gives solutions and methods for managing and avoiding overload. This includes working your email efficiently, managing your to do list, and keeping your computer desktop and files clean and orderly. Have you heard of the Dvorak keyboard map, QuicKeys, or a bit lever? Fascinating answers are part of Bit Literacy.

Get to know the author better by reading an interview with Mark at Argus Center for Information Architecture; you get a good idea of what makes Mark tick, and the site is loaded with related links.

Middle School Spooky Read

The day before Halloween, I had the occasion to read to our middle schoolers. With the help of their teachers, I thought it might be fun to read William Wymark Jacobs's (1863-1943) "The Monkey's Paw." This short story is a classic.

To heighten the atmosphere we turned out the lights, lit a candle and placed it in the center of our group circle. Spooky, really spooky.

You may have seen The Simpson's version in a Halloween special. Here is a 13-minute modern version; it's not bad.

The best part was that our seventh and eighth grade students appreciated and enjoyed the story.

Family Dynamics

I had the good fortune to see Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” this past weekend on Broadway. Set in Brooklyn in the late 1930s, the beautiful set is the inside of the Jerome home, first and second floors. Only Neil Simon can capture the comedy and drama of family struggles and joys of parents working hard to raise their children. Seen through the eyes of 15-year old Eugene Jerome; avid Yankees fan, Eugene reveals all aspects of his adolescence through his diary with the audience. You’ll inevitably compare his youthful innocence and family’s life with your own.

If you can’t get to see BBM on stage, you can click over to hulu and see the full-length movie. Sometime on a Saturday night when you’re looking for family fun, gather around the computer and compare Simon’s family dynamics with your own.

Is That Really a Palindrome?

This is an article I wrote that was originally published in Teaching Children Mathematics way back in November 1995.

IS THAT REALLY A PALINDROME?
by OTTO, A Fifth Grade Mathematics Teacher

Just the other day in my fifth grade mathematics class I was astonished beyond belief. (Children can do that to teachers, even when the teacher has been teaching for twenty years.) The lesson was simple with an objective to teach a new math word, “palindrome.” The class went something like this -

“Has anyone heard of the word palindrome?”
No one answers and many quizzical looks.

“I'll give you an example of one using numbers, and let's see if you can guess what is unusual about the numbers.”
1221, 43534, 9001009 are chalked on the green board. Now the hands start to raise.
“These numbers are the same when read forwards or backwards. Can anyone give me an example of a number palindrome? Good, 4334 . . . and 87678, that's it. Now, can anyone think of some words that represent palindromes? Yes . . . MOM - good. POP, BOB - now you're getting it! Any others? LEVEL - excellent, RACE CAR - great.”
Cooper has his hand raised and is looking at me, not overly excited, just looking at me. When recognized, he casually says, “GO HANG A SALAMI, I'M A LASAGNA HOG.”
“What did you say, Cooper?”
“GO HANG A SALAMI, I'M A LASAGNA HOG.”
Now I have to assess quickly whether he is trying to play the clown or if he has something to say. So, I ask him to repeat it one more time.
“GO HANG A SALAMI, I'M A LASAGNA HOG.”
I proceed to write it on the board - the third time is a charm, and I finally begin to see the light! How did this kid do that? Obviously, he remembered it from a previous experience, but still, to remember it just like that. I write it down several times on paper before I can commit it to memory.
Before bringing closure to the lesson, Cooper raises his hand and says that he has one more. My response is “Fine, impress me.”
“A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL, PANAMA!” ... I was impressed.

For more information on palindromes check out these sites

Palindromes

Fun With Words - Palindromes

Alphabetical List of Palindromes

Marshmallow Test

I first learned about the marshmallow test when I read Daniel Goleman's popular book Emotional Quotient.

Here is a cute video of the marshmallow test.

If you want to read more about the test, click on the May 18, 2009 New Yorker article "Don't! The Secret of Self-Control" by John Lehrer.

Gleeful Misfits

James Howe has become a favorite author — 13 and now The Misfts. Here is a revealing interview with the author about his own life, family, the book, and his stories writing about middle school kids.

The middle school years are difficult years to say the least. So many changes that take place in a human being's life — the most — during those ages from 10 to 15. For those middle schoolers who struggle to fit in, life can be even more challenging. Getting some insights into the lives of those "misfits" is an assignment for all educators and middle school parents. "The Weird, the Strange, and the Quirky (Kid)" by Robert Fles in the Fall issue of Independent School Magazine is a thoughtful, related article.

Cut to Glee, Fox TV's newest show about high school misfits is a fun and entertaining show. Do yourself a favor and at least stream in the pilot. The performance of "Don't Stop Believin" is Emmy-quality. Listen.

What is most enlightening about the book and the show is the insights presented into the family lives of the "misfits."

Playing With Imagination

I love watching the imagination of our youngest children—students and visitors. When you look closely, you can see the imagination in their eyes and actions.

During our faculty and staff work-week before the opening of school, I was chatting with teachers in one of our preschool classrooms. Two faculty children were having a conversation—one, an eighth grade student, the other a two-year old girl—and within a minute’s time the two-year old's attention shifted to a nearby dollhouse.

As is the case with many dollhouses, the back of the house was missing to give children easy access to the dolls and furniture within. I could see the adults in the room watching the eighth grader encourage the two-year old to interact with the materials inside. She grasped a doll and guided it to walk within the house, in the upstairs bedroom to be exact. You could see her become mesmerized by the bedroom and its furniture. All of a sudden, she guided her head into the room as much as it would fit. Next, she pulled back and then lifted her leg as if to enter the bedroom. Her eighth grade friend tried to help her understand that it is a room just for the little dolls. She looked a little disappointed, but soon accepted what he was saying and transitioned from her imagination to reality, going on to another activity.

Social Media Revolution

If you have not seen Did You Know, make sure you click on it first before viewing Social Media Revolution below. Author Daniel Pink in his book A Whole New Mind (see my 3/30/08 post) presents the different ages of our society's evolution from the Agricultural Age, to the Industrial Age, to the Information Age. Social Media Revolution will certainly give you more information than you may want to take in. This is an extraordinary clip.

Who's in Charge?

Plugged into my iPod and carrying my lunch and reading book, The Price of Privilege, I entered Prospect Park, which is huge — like Central Park — prepared to have lunch, listen to music, people watch, and read. I entered where there is one long park bench (it goes on forever), and a group of caregivers was chatting while their child charges ran, milled about, and tested their distances away from the people who were giving care to them. This part of the park is beautiful, like walking into a well-managed forest. I picked an especially good bench position to set up “camp,” with the park entrance about 50 yards to my right and a children’s playground about 50 yards to my left.

On the eight-foot wide asphalt path in front of me, all sizes of little ones were walking, riding scooters, being carried, and riding in strollers. This day was a beautiful day to be in the park. I watched one child after another focusing on fidgety squirrels, birds looking for food, dogs tugging at leashes, and the underside of the trees that covered our area in shadows, protecting us all from the shining sun above.

As I was finishing my lunch with a bag of M&Ms, a little girl walked on the other side of the path in front of me. She was off the path, wandering around the trees. She was no more than 20 months. I can size the age of little ones because the two-year olds walk past my office each day at school going to and from the rooftop play area. I looked to see to whom she belonged and saw no one. She kept looking over her shoulder, so I assumed she belonged to one of the caregivers at the entrance to the park, about 50 yards away, where the group was sitting and chatting.

I kept thinking that someone would fetch her and help her with boundaries, but nothing happened. In fact, the child roamed even further away, towards the playground. Measuring the distance in my mind, I imagined myself sitting at the 50-yard line at a football game. At this point, I stopped what I was doing and watched the child wander down a small hill to get closer to the children playing, noticing that she is now a good 100 yards from where she belonged . . . and out of the caregiver’s sight.

Now I am ready to intervene either by yelling at the group of caregivers, “Who’s in charge of that little girl?” or to just keep watching her. The child walked closer to the play area and turned around and started to walk further away. I had a Montessori moment that said, “don’t underestimate the child’s ability to know how to navigate, but make sure she is safe,” so I just kept watching.

To my amazement, I could see her calculating where she was, where her “home” was and eventually taking steps in that direction. Finally, a caregiver sauntered past me toward the child and corralled her back toward the bench that was home base. Without admonishing the child, the caregiver walked past me — the one who was in charge . . . for a brief moment anyway.

Mind Your Mission

School missions come in all shapes and sizes. Crafting a mission statement is a challenge for any non-profit and requires a board of trustees/directors to devote much time and thought in the process. It is a good idea to review that mission every now and then. Schools should go through that process before each reaccreditation.

At a recent New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) trustee workshop, Independent School Management (ISM) consultant Terry Moore advised that a school's mission statement should be no more than 30 words. He cited The Julliard School's mission as an example ". . . provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors from around the world, so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens."

In any case, if your school is thinking about its mission statement, it would be helpful to pick up a copy of the Fall 2009 issue of Independent School magazine. The theme of this issue is mission, mantras, and meaning. Peter Gow's article "Missions, Mantras, and Meaning" is excellent.

Nurtureshock

I am hearing more and more about the book, Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. After reading today's "NYTimes Book Review" review of the book, I get the sense that they are trying to nurture shock so that parents will buy their book. Bronson had two New York magazine articles that were equally provocative: "Learn to Lie" (February 2008) and "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (February 2007), an article based on Carol Dweck's work regarding praise for effort v. praise for intelligence.

When you click on the book title above you will be able to see and hear the authors talk about their work.

What a Difference 2 Months Make

The other day at a faculty and staff lunch, I had the joyous opportunity to hold a baby—two to be exact.

The first one was a two-month old boy. His complacent disposition made for enjoyable snuggling. I was especially sensitive to holding his neck in order to support his head which was rolling around, kind of out of control. He was working really hard to take control of that head and his eyes were moving around trying to fix on one object. He could do it for a short time, and his beautiful blue eyes were perfect for catching the attention of passersby.

It just so happened that shortly after tranfering my little friend back to his mother, another faculty parent happened by with her four-month old son. Knowing how much I love to hold babies she passed her son freely into my arms. This little guy stood upright, totally in control of his head. He was solid, constantly exploring his hands, people going by, colors in a nearby quilt, and anything else that caught his developing attention span. He really showed his age when he delighted in talking to his mirror image when I held him up to a reflecting classroom door window. He was busy the whole time and could not take in his environment fast enough.

What was most remarkable between the two babies was the strength and density of the older, more physically developed child. Holding both babies in such a short period of time really emphasized the dramatic difference two months make in a baby's development.

Professional Development ---> The Marshall Memo

If you know anything about professional development—in any field—you know that it is what sustains people and promotes excellence in their work and in the work place. When you work in education, professional development becomes a way of life, and living the life of a life long learner models for children and young adults the way to move forward in life.

Probably the easiest and often the cheapest form of professional development is reading. Books, internet, magazines, and newspapers provide a wealth of opportunities to learn on your own.

Like ASCD's Smart Briefs, The Marshall Memo is a way of letting someone else do the reading and condense the work, and you pick what interests you and serves you in accomplishing what you are working on at any particular moment. Check out The Marshall Memo and see what I mean.

Stay Close

Drug addiction cripples young people—and their families—in ways that we can never understand. Stay Close, A Mother's Story of Her Son's Addiction is the latest heartfelt, sad story about the subject. The author, Libby Cataldi, was Head of an independent day school, The Calverton School, in Maryland for 17 years.

Many of you may remember the gripping book, Beautiful Boy, A Father's Journey Through His Son's Meth Addiction by David Sheff.

Cataldi will speak at The New York School of Medicine Author Night Series on November 2 starting at 5:30 p.m.

What a Catch . . . I Mean Throw!

If you did not see this beautiful clip of a 3-year old's throw at the ole ball game, click on it below. It's priceless.


Little Girl Tosses Back Foul Ball - Watch more Funniest Videos

Fantastical Journeys

It was a beautiful day for a walk to Borough Hall where the annual Brooklyn Book Festival was taking place. Many vender stalls were erected throughout the grounds, all dedicated to books and reading. I grabbed an events schedule, and I was too late to hear Mo Willems (Don't Let Pigeons Drive the Bus, Elephants Cannot Dance, and Watch Me Throw the Ball) speak, but I was in time to hear a panel with Newbery Honor author Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, and The Magician's Elephant), Christopher Myers (Wings), and Michael Buckley (The Sisters Grimm) speak about "a world of whimsical imagination where elephants guide, boys fly, and humans and fairy-tale creatures live side by side."

The Fate of H1N1 May Be In Your Hands

Please take four and half minutes and listen to the Take Away interview with NYTimes "Well" columnist Tara Parker Pope. You can also click to my July 30, 2008 post for more frightening facts about germs and their destructive manners.

Good advice. Very sobering.

The Price of Privilege – Part 4 of 4

PART FOUR – WHY YOU HAVE TO STAND ON YOUR OWN TWO FEET BEFORE YOUR CHILDREN CAN STAND ON THEIRS

In this last section, Levine focuses on what parents can do to help themselves in order to help their children, and again, she uses anecdotes from her work, research, and her own life, family and circumstance as a basis for her writing. She devotes the last chapter of this part of her book to mothers.

Here are some notable quotes from the entire section:

• Affluent communities emphasize competition and extrinsic markers of success such as high grades, trophies, and admission to prestigious schools.
• Mothers become overly dependent on their children for emotional support and comfort.
• Excessive pressure, isolation from adults, inappropriate intrusion, controlling behavior, lax discipline—have all found their home in affluent communities.
• If we hope to have our children who are capable of being accountable for their behavior, then we must model accountability.
• Maladaptive perfectionism is driven by an intense need to avoid failure and appear flawless.
• Affluent communities suffer from both lack of cohesion and a lack of values that stress the needs of the community.
• This book stresses the value of authenticity in leading an independent, productive, loving life.
• Most children at most times in their lives, feel closer to their mothers than to their fathers. So it should come as no surprise that research confirms that a child’s best shot at healthy emotional development depends on his own mother’s emotional health.
• As we are able to feel generally loved, valued, and connected, so will our children. Children thrive best when their mothers take care of themselves as well as their children.
• We never fool our children, regardless of how convinced we are that “the children don’t know a thing.”
• Reaching out means we give, but it also means we get.

Levine wisely concludes the book by stating “Make certain that your children know every day how much they are loved, not for their grades, honors, or awards but for their striving to be independent, capable, good, and loving people.”

The green highlights throughout the four posts represent comments made in the book that are akin to the Montessori philosophy and the red highlights are not akin to the Montessori philosophy.

The Price of Privilege - Part 3 of 4

PART THREE – PARENTING FOR AUTONOMY

Part three opens with an introduction to University of California research psychologist Dr. Diana Baumrind who is noted for her work on the impact of parenting styles on child development. “Her central concern has always been to identify those parenting strategies that are most likely to turn out autonomous children, children who are independent, capable, and loving.”

See my October 22 post, “What is Your Parenting Style” for more information specific to Dr. Baumrind’s work.

Some notable points from Levine in Part 3:

• Promoting guilt and shame invariably works against progress—and, more importantly, they weaken the ties between child and parent.
• The disturbing sense of entitlement so often observed in affluent kids is partly an outgrowth of parents’ efforts to elevate their child’s sense of self with persistent praise. See Dweck posts “Mindset: Dr. Carol Dweck Part 3” (1/2/09), “Dweck on Intelligence” (7/10/08), and “Getting to Know Dr. Carol Dweck” (4/18/08).
• Levine gives an informative look at what parent options are [for example] when your 12-year old child gets a poor grade on a math test.
• There are good insights on parents being the “bad cop,” firmness, letting your kids know when you mean business, containment, flexibility, and the difference between being in control and being controlling.

Get to know Dr. Levine by viewing her interview about the book.



The green highlights throughout the four posts represent comments made in the book that are akin to the Montessori philosophy and the red highlights are not akin to the Montessori philosophy.

The Price of Privilege – Part 2 of 4

PART TWO – HOW THE CULTURE OF AFFLUENCE WORKS AGAINST THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF

Levine states that the [child’s] self is born in the crucible of interaction between parent and child. Every time we encourage exploration, applaud independence, and require self-control we help our children grow into their best selves. She goes on to say that kids with a strong sense of self can come out of dismal economic circumstances and kids with an impaired sense of self can come out of the most fortunate economic circumstance.

Here are several other points Levine stresses in this part of the book:

• What I loved about this section is that Levine emphasizes that the goal of parenting should always be to help the child learn how to act on his own behalf and that kids with healthy selves are ready and able to “own” their lives.
• Affluent kids are often so protected from even the most minor disappointments and frustrations that they are unable to develop critical coping skills.
• She talks about attunement, a reciprocal form of communication, that is aided by the mother who is sensitive to both the internal and external feelings and experiences of her child.
• The child who is well loved and well schooled in the importance of empathy, is a child who can respect his own needs while being sensitive to the needs of others.
• The “stuff” we buy our kids, the “advantages” we insist on providing say more about our needs than our children’s.
• Make certain that you speak to your child firmly but respectfully and never bribe your children to learn.
• Be kind to your child; her beginning sense of self is still largely dependent on your opinion of her.
• Children need to see that we value their character first, their effort second, and then their grades.
• Children need to see that we value their character first, their effort second, and then their grades. (Such an important point, I am repeating it.)

Levine looks at child cognitive and social development, parenting challenges, and proposes parenting strategies that are most likely to facilitate development at different ages, beginning with ages 2 to 4 and working through ages 5 to 7, 8 to 11, 12 to 14, and 15 to 17.

The green highlights throughout the four posts represent comments made in the book that are akin to the Montessori philosophy and the red highlights are not akin to the Montessori philosophy.

The Price of Privilege – Part 1 of 4

This summer our faculty and staff read The Price of Privilege by Madeline Levine with the hopes of extending our understanding of diversity—socioeconomic diversity—and how it affects our students, their families, us, and our surrounding communities.

I would like to share what I gleaned from my reading with you in several posts. There are four parts to the book, so this and the next three posts will encapsulate my thoughts and impressions.

PART ONE – AMERICA’S NEW “AT-RISK” CHILD

Levine takes the reader into her therapy sessions with young people. One statistic after another give insight into this world of children and families of privilege. Some disturbing and others interesting, here are a few from part one:

• Adolescent suicide today has quadrupled since 1950.
• In addition to income, factors such as literacy, political freedom, and civil rights all influence a person’s happiness, what researchers often call “well-being.”
• Studies show that approximately 50% of happiness is inherited, leaving 50% to be determined by parenting, life experiences, and luck.
• Affluent parents hesitate to seek professional help more than other groups of parents.
• Materialism is a value system that emphasizes wealth, status, image, and material consumption and is found among people in all socioeconomic groups. Liking stuff isn’t the problem; liking stuff more than people is. We want to avoid training our children to believe that it is external rewards that are responsible for personal happiness.
• Two factors repeatedly emerge as contributing to high levels of emotional problems. The first is achievement pressure and the second is isolation from parents.
• Study after study shows that teens want more, not less, time with their parents.
• There is an inverse relationship between income and closeness to parents. Lower-socioeconomic kids are far more likely to report feeling close to their parents than kids from high socioeconomic homes.

Always looking at the student’s construction of “sense of self” as a measuring stick, Levine describes the privileged student as indulged, coddled, pressured, and micromanaged, and paints the at-risk child environment as empty refrigerator, unforgiving circumstances, metal detectors in their schools, killings in their neighborhoods. If you want a closer look into the world of at-risk children, read "In Prisoners' Wake, A Tide of Troubled Kids" from the July 5, Sunday Times.

Levine points out that increases in material wealth do not translate into advantages in emotional health. And, “Anxiety, depression, somatic complaints, thought problems, attention problems, and rule breaking can be 2 to 5 times more prevalent among private high school juniors and seniors than among the general population of high school juniors and seniors.”

Probably the two most salient points/suggestions I take away from this section of the book is 1) “Perhaps the single most important ritual a family can observe is having dinner together.” And 2) [Children] need to see that their parents value effort, curiosity, and intellectual courage.” On the latter point, read Carol Dweck’s work in my July 10, 2008 post.

Please feel free to comment on what you read, especially if you have read the book.

The green highlights throughout the four posts represent comments made in the book that are akin to the Montessori philosophy and the red highlights are not akin to the Montessori philosophy.

Records Exist to be Broken

While reading the August 10, 2009 “Sports Illustrated” magazine’s “Faces in the Crowd” section I noted

Leland McPhie of San Diego Track and Field broke the American men's shot put record at the USA Masters outdoor championships. His throw of 22' 6½" beat the previous mark by nearly a foot. I scratched my head as I know that the men’s shot put record is around 75’. When I read the piece again, I noticed that McPhie is 95-years old and was competing in the 95- to 99-year old division!

McPhie, who competes for the So Cal Track Club, also holds Masters 95 world records in the high jump at 3' 1¼" (the Men’s high jump is around 8’) and triple jump at 13' 0" (the Men’s Triple Jump record is around 59’).

Congratulations to Leland McPhie! What an inspiration to our younger aspirants.

Job or Responsibility?

I have followed Jim Collins' books over the past six years and have tried to adopt his leadership principles in my work as head of school. So much of what he talks about makes such good sense. In his recent book How the Mighty Fall, I point you in the direction of reading his Appendix 5: WHAT MAKES FOR THE "RIGHT PEOPLE" IN KEY SEATS.

Having spent the first 11 years of my career in boarding school doing the triple threat—teaching, coaching, and dormitory duty, I quickly decided the way for me to survive was to "live the life" rather than treat my work as a job.  It has proven to be the way to approach any job that I have had.  In Collins' Appendix 5 he cites six generic characteristics, one of them being "THE RIGHT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE 'JOBS'; THEY HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES.  They grasp the difference between their task list and their true responsibilities.  The right people can complete the statement, 'I am the one person ultimately responsible for . . .'"

As an aside, when I asked a long-time, successful business owner if he read Collins' latest book, he responded to my email by saying, "I am reading it, too. One must always keep his/her eye on the ball and remember, the ball is moving!!!"

Kids and TV

Captain Kangaroo, Mickey Mouse, Mr. Rogers, and Big Bird are television characters that exploded on the scene in late 60s and early 70s. They took the place of "Winky Dink" and “Ding Dong School,” which were some of the first attempts of television programming to reach kids.

While on vacation recently, I had the occasion to listen to the radio program “Where We Live” with John Dankosky, a local talk show host. On this particular morning the one hour show was devoted to “The ABCs of Kids TV.” Flanked by Michael Davis, author of Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, and Dr. Dorothy Singer, Senior Research Scientist at Yale University Department of Psychology and Co-director of the Yale Family Television Research and Consultation Center, the host did an excellent job of analyzing kids TV from the beginning up through the present.

If you have ever watched children’s TV or have children who watch TV, this broadcast is a must-listen-too program.

Emma - The Magazine

I cannot begin to tell you how many independent school magazines and publications I have leafed through over the years. Many school publications tout their athletic teams, alumnae/i accomplishments, school progress, etc. It is particularly impressive to read a school publication that is dedicated to a greater theme—women's issues.

Having watched single-sex education find its way on the excellent writing and work of Carol Gilligan, Mary Pipher, Michael Thompson, and Michael Gurian, I was impressed with the summer 2009 edition of "Emma" from the Emma Willard School, a girls 9-12 boarding school in upstate New York.

As you can see by the cover, this edition steps out front to give its readers a view of what is inside, and that is the best part — the content of the magazine. Here are the titles of some of the pieces highlighted in this award-wining magazine:

"After Beauty"

"My Breasts, Myself"

"Body After Baby"

"Outlook Cloudy with a Chance of Radiation"

"Sharing the Big Secret"

Visit Emma online and see for yourself.

All Kinds of Ears

After a long walk in rural Connecticut, I decided to stop by a local sweet corn stand and pick up a couple ears of corn for dinner. As I walked into the barn stand, I plucked my iPod earbuds from my head, lifted my shades, and sized up the seller. A 16-year old high schooler with requisite summer basketball garb and baseball cap skewed to one side of his head, presented a beautiful smile and asked, "Whatcha listening to?" "John Mayer" was my immediate reply. "Awe, you should be listening to Slipknot." was his response. Instantly, without ever hearing the group, my ears started ringing, knowing that my teenage friend's taste would be appreciably different from mine.

See what you think. Listen to Slipknot's "Psychosocial" (7, 182,000 YouTube views) and John Mayer's "Say" (6,110,000 YouTube views) and see if you notice a slight difference.

Book v. Kindle

The recent NYTimes article "Moving into a Digital Future, Where Textbooks Are History" and the recent advent of the electronic book, Kindle, have caused me to ask, "So, when will the printed word as we know it go totally digital?"

Have YOU thought about converting from books to a Kindle? I have, at least up until our school librarian suggested I view the Green Apple Books' Kindle v. Book series. Try watching “The Book vs. The Kindle, Round 1: The Buy Counter.” I’ll bet you end up clicking on all 5 rounds.

“The Book vs. The Kindle, Round 2: Buying a Book.”

“The Book vs. The Kindle, Round 3: Sharing"

“The Book vs. The Kindle, Round 4: Nap Time"

“The Book vs. The Kindle, Round 5: The Icebreaker"

Enjoy!

Saying It

When was the last time you said, “I love you.” to your child or a loved one?

The other day when I was walking into a kitchen gadget boutique, I immediately took in the layout of the store. I saw pots, napkins, pepper mills, fancy spoons, and no customers. It was eerily quiet. I directed my attention to a cookbook when I heard, “I love you grandma.” Looking in the direction of what I heard, I saw a five-year old child gazing face-to-face at her grandmother. They were behind the counter ready to wait on the next customer. Within an instant, the reply from grandmother to child was returned, “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

The next time the opportunity presents itself, let someone you love know how you feel by saying it, “I love you.”

A Peace of Brooklyn

The exact same night the Gates, Crowely, and Obama kerfuffle was resolved over a few beers, my wife and I attended a quintessential Brooklyn event in Asher Levy Park in Coney Island. After a half-hour ride due south on the F Train and employing squatters’ rights with fold-up lawn chairs slung over my shoulder, we chose a park plot facing due west. Even though the sun was directly in our eyes, we knew it would be only minutes before a 20-story apartment building would provide shadow creep over our camp. Rummaging through our BHMS sack for our picnic dinner, we quickly chomped on a leftover spare rib, avocado salad, and stuffed mushrooms.

As the park filled, you could repeatedly hear “ ‘scuse me, sorry, ‘scuse me . . .” as the 20,000 spectators slowly made their way to their own turf. Listening to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz on stage chatter about politicos as they entered their select seats, I could not help but notice people of many races, beer-bellied shirtless men, kids texting cellphones, three-generation families reminiscing, candidates handing out leaflets, people with walkers, and an air of community spirit. One passerby was a 60-year old man with his 92-year old father who engaged us in conversation, saying how since his brother passed away four months ago and his mother’s recent death left his father alone, he makes it a point of driving in from Pasaic twice a week to take his father to the Park.

After crowd scanning and reading a chapter from my book, we settled in under a cloudless sky and beautiful half-moon with a perfect 75-degree temperature to listen and watch Jersey boy Frankie Valli demonstrate why he was one of the all-time best selling rock stars. He had the crowd singing, waving their hands, and bobbing heads. What I loved about the performance was the fact that he introduced new, young talent and gave them a piece of the stage—not too much—to develop their own careers.

While nestled among enough people to fill a small town, we enjoyed a wonderful performance, and at the same time, the President and friends were in the process of trying to correct poor behavior and miscommunication in front of the world. Ironically, when I checked my email the next morning, I clicked on one message that had a link to reporter Jehmu Greene’s article “Everything Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley Needed to Know, I Learned at a Montessori School.” It’s an excellent article see what you think and let me know.