Pink & 930: An Article

     After listening to Daniel Pink author of A Whole New Mind, I was inspired to take what he said and write an article right after I heard him in February 2008 at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) annual conference in New York.  The article eventually appeared in the September 2009 issue of the American Montessori Society (AMS) Newsletter "Daniel Pink Presentation Sparks Revelation of Long-Held Secret: '930'”
     I am looking forward to seeing him at the AMS annual conference in Boston the end of March.  To get primed to hear him, I picked up his newest book Drive; it was no surprise to read his glowing references to Howard Gardner, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Robert Sternberg, Carol Dweck, etc. as those who were instrumental in the analysis of his motivation operating systems: Motivation 2.0 and Motivation 3.0.
    See what you think about the article.

Faculty & Staff Meetings

There are department faculty meetings, and there are division faculty meetings, and there are school meetings for all employees.  Author Thomas Hoerr discusses these meetings by asking  What If Faculty Meetings Were Voluntary? in his December 2 edweek.org piece.  I enjoyed reading his five myths and how he addresses each.  Here are the five:


Myth No.1. Faculty meetings are good times to share information.
Myth No. 2. Faculty meetings belong to administrators.
Myth No. 3. Faculty meetings are times for administrators to be in charge.
Myth No. 4. Faculty meetings should focus only on content.
Myth No. 5. Faculty meetings are serious, and a smile means we’re not being productive.

The Hunger Games

     The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a must-read for middle school students and teachers.  It is the first book in a trilogy by Collins.  I thought of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders while I read the drama-packed Hunger Games and the gang mentality of the characters.  It is one of those books that captures the life of teen years in a very unusual setting.  Snippets of Orwell's Animal Farm came through as well as I read about the Capitol government and big brother hovering over district citizens and tributes.  Click here to get a glimpse of images that depict scenes from the book, but do read the book and get ready for the movie.  
     I'm off to read Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy.

Idiom

     Recently while I was at the front doors of the School greeting students and parents at the beginning of school, I noticed a father with his second and fourth grade children approaching.  The father recently changed jobs and was about to begin his first day of his new job.  So, as the three of them entered, I said to the father with a wink of the eye, "Hey, David, break a leg."  He smiled and said, "Thanks."  Immediately the second grader looked up at Dad and said, "Why would Dane tell you to break your leg?"  I had to trust Dad would explain what an idiomatic expression is.  In case you forgot, check out this great site: Using English.com.

More Online Education Resources

     Online resource from Apple:

"iTunesU, part of the iTunes Store, is possibly the world’s greatest collection of free educational media available to students, teachers, and lifelong learners. With over 200,000 educational audio and video files available, iTunes U has quickly become the engine for the mobile learning movement. It puts the power of the iTunes Store in the hands of qualifying universities so they can distribute their educational media to their students or to the world." 
     Visit iTunes U and click on the demonstration video. Pretty amazing.

     Also, you might click on British TV's teachers.tv.

Author, Ventriloquist, Magician

When I walked into our school library during the annual book fair, I knew I would be listening to author Grace Chang read from her book Jin Jin the Dragon.  What I did not expect to see was 40 children and adults mesmerized by this very talented woman.  Jin Jin the dragon came alive with a voice and jaw-dropping magic that captured everyone's imagination.  Visit her website to see a bit of what I am writing about.

Confident Kids

With many years of greeting children as they walk into school and observing their interaction with adults, I have come to realize the significant difference in Montessori kids; their confidence is visibly evident.

When I meet a child, I look for eye contact, or a firm handshake, or how easily she/he engages in conversation. I do notice that Montessori children are more comfortable with adult interaction; they work and play in an environment that welcomes adult-child interaction. It is an environment that says we—children, young adults, and adults—are life-long active learners and enjoy learning together and learning from each other. We all have something to share, no matter what age you are. This inevitably breeds confidence in our children.

Whether it is a little one who toddles into my office attracted by the beaver doorstop, preschoolers who want to have me look at their work in the classroom, or an Upper Elementary student who is sharing today’s classroom snack, I love the fact that they feel comfortable enough to engage with the Head of School, who is just another person at school.

Research suggests that building a child’s confidence starts early on, and parents who understand the idea of transitioning independence to their child will better serve their child. Dr. Montessori is very clear about how children work through early sensitive periods. A preschooler’s sensitivity to detail, order, use of hands, walking, and language happens at different stages and is made whole when parents give their children time to explore, experiment, and self-discover their abilities during each sensitive period. Confidence grows with each success, and when there is failure, confidence will grow out of the recovery, not the fall.

In this summer’s faculty and staff book read, The Price of Privilege, author Madeline 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. Interestingly, 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.

All parents want their children to make choices, become self-reliant, be independent thinkers, and engage with each other and adults confidently.

Charlie Bit My Finger

When I was at an education conference in San Francisco this past weekend, the 1,000 participants sitting in the grand ballroom were introduced to the video below.  With over 150,000,000 views recorded, videos don't get much cuter than this.

Do What You Need To Do

Reading Malcom Gladwell's newest best seller, What the Dog Saw you discover the book is a compilation of his New Yorker articles that he wrote since 1996.  In the usual Gladwell fashion, you begin reading his works and you find yourself saying, "Yah, he is so right.  How does he assemble so many relevant thoughts, statistics, and connections in one article?"


It was when I was reading "Million-Dollar Murray" an article that was published on February 13, 2006 and coincidentally listening to John Mayer's "Say" that I was struck by Gladwell's ability to strike a chord in our sensibilities.  Making a connection between homelessness, the inefficiency of eradicating it, and Gladwell's ability to say what we need to hear, will help us prepare our world for our children so that they can accomplish what we mean to accomplish.  Read the piece as you listen to Mayer and see if you can understand what I am saying.

And the winners are . . .

The Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal winners were announced, and the winners are When You Reach Me and The Lion and the Mouse.  Click over to this two minute Today Show interview with the authors. 

Newbery & Caldecott Medal Awards

     Aren't young adult and children's picture books great . . . for kids and adults.  The picture above is one of the walls in my office.  One poster is of all of the Newbery Medal (the most distinguished children's American book literature) book covers and the other is a poster of all of the Caldecott Medal (The Most Distinguished Chidren's Book Illustration) book covers.  In case you didn't know, the American Library Association (ALA) is currently holding its annual meeting in Boston.  The conference culminating event is the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners.

     Pssst . . . I will let you in on a little secret.  After speaking to our school librarian, I have two picks to watch for: Claudette Colvin by Phillip M. Hoose for the Newbery Medal and The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney for the Caldecott Medal.

     Let's see what happens when the awards are announced tomorrow, January 18.

Tweens, Porcupines, and Good Advice

     I can never be sensitive enough to those parents of 9- through 13-year old children.  It is such a difficult age for the children AND parents.  I was reintroduced to the above books recently, and they reminded me of the challenges of the tween years — those middle school years.  Here are some links to the books.

• Get Out of My Life but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall
• How to Hug a Porcupine
• Our Last Best Shot

     Don't be surprised when you read the first chapter of Porcupine and the introduction to Our Last Best Shot to see that they are almost identical.  The former is about a boy and the latter is about a girl, nevertheless they have similar characteristics.
     The books are all must-reads for parents with children who are approaching these sensitive years in life.  Do yourself a favor and read at least one of them.

Gutenberg Press, Then — E-Books, Now?

I first began seriously asking myself, "If and when will electronic books take over book-books?" when I bumped into the "Book v. Kindle" challenges (see August 10, 2009 post).  Funny though they are, the sketches made me think and say, "Right, this really isn't going to happen . . . at least, not in my time."


Enter stage right "How E-Books Will Change Reading and Writing," an NPR piece that makes you think about the E-Book notion when you stack it up against what the Gutenburg press did for reading and writing a gazillion years ago.

Growing K-12 Online Learning

Here are some statistics to think about:

• K-12 online learning is a new field consisting of an estimated $300 million market, which is growing at an estimated annual pace of 30% annually.
• 87% of all youth between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet 

(21 million people).


• 45 of the 50 states, plus Washington D.C., have a state virtual school or online initiative, full-time online schools, or both.
• As of January 2007, there were 173 virtual charter schools serving 92,235 students in 18 states.
• 57% of public secondary schools in the U.S. provide access to students for online learning.
• 86% percent of teens, 88% of online teens, and 80% of all parents believe that the Internet helps teenagers to do better in school.


• 14.2 million computers were available for classroom use in the nation’s schools as of the 2005-2006 school year. That works out to one computer for every four students learning.

     Prompted by Susan Booth's Independent School article "At the Tipping Point: K-12 Online Learning," I visited the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)'s Fast Facts About Online Learning to retrieve the above stats.  How far will we go with technology in our classrooms?

Independent School Reading

On December 10, 1997 I wrote "Getting a Read on Independent Schools" for Education Week where I made reference to books about independent schools.  The usual suspects were mentioned: The Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, The Rector of Justin, A Prayer For Owen Meany, Dead Poet Society, and others.  All of these literary icons came flooding back to me when I read NAIS President Pat Bassett's Independent Perspective Column "An Explication of 'Fisherman's Wife'" and related short story "Fisherman's Wife" by Medb Mahony in the Winter 2010 issue of Independent School magazine.


Pat eloquently ties Mahony's short story to the Brothers Grimm fable "The Fisherman and His Wife" in his thoughtful analysis, helping readers gain one perspective on today's independent schools.

It's Just a Story

     As he made his way around the corner, Paul reached into his pocket for spare change to drop into the paper cup of the beckoning street person.  Where the money went, Paul did not care; he was happy to help someone less fortunate.

     Paul was a contributing artist at an odd but well respected gallery in the City.  People often viewed his video/CD-based installations with wonderment and invariably walked away feeling inspired, hopeful, and reaffirmed.  A former teacher of 16 years, Paul developed a sense of what made up a good child.  Over those years he came to appreciate the characteristics in a child that caused him to stay in the classroom as long as he did.  Kind, hard working, thoughtful of the needs of others, and honest described the child he envisioned as the perfect child.  Paul felt obliged to help parents see this in their children.

     When his wife passed away and he had to raise his own two children by himself, he struggled to find ways to make ends meet financially and at the same time hold his own son and daughter to the values about children in which he believed so passionately.  Medical insurance held him to teaching, but financial necessity forced him to explore other avenues.  Technology, art, and part-time working opportunities lead him to work evenings at a small art gallery.  The hours were flexible, the owner loved his children, and a creative side of Paul emerged quite unexpectedly.  Here is where he began to develop his love of art and incorporate his appreciation of good child qualities and a desire to help parents see how beautiful children can be if nurtured and taught with love, care, and structure. 

     During ensuing years, his art, which was presented in sound, video, and still images, depicted children extending themselves in ways that captured the viewer – ways that told the story of just how beautiful children are.  Paul’s exhibits were especially appreciated by parents who were in the throes of a particularly difficult time with their children.  Repeatedly, Paul’s patrons were captured by the beauty children exhibit in their innocence juxtaposed to their desire to imitate their parents.  The power held by parents over children was readily seen in an image of a child’s eyes looking for approval, or a questioning voice looking for an answer, or a joyful smile offering love.

     It was no surprise when one evening as he was exiting the gallery, Paul noticed a young girl holding the hand of a lost soul who was sitting on a shiny brass standpipe.  How proud Paul beamed to eventually see that it was his daughter who was giving comfort to the stranger.

Grimm NERDS

I had the good fortune to listen to the very funny author Michael Buckley at our school's Holiday Book Fair.  Michael talked about his career that began as an intern on the David Letterman Show and progressed to being an acclaimed author of the Sisters Grimm series.  His newest series, NERDS (National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society) is about the misfits at Nathan Hale Elementary School in the "geektropolis" of Arlington, Virginia.  Much like James Howe's The Misfits and 13 (see Oct. 22 and July 29 posts), Buckley's writing is of a Simpson's genre suitable for kids and adult reading.


When Michael read from the first chapter of the first book in NERDS, fifth grader Jackson Jones is in the dentist chair staring up at Dr. Gupta.  What follows is hilarious.

Smart Empathy

The holiday season — no matter what faith — does bring families together, and as I read Wendy Mogel's (The Blessing of a Skinned Knee) recent, insightful article "Smart Empathy" in the winter issue of Independent School magazine, it made me appreciate how important a role empathy plays in binding families, especially today in our school communities.  In her article, Mogel cites Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind (see post dated 3/30/08 post) by pointing out his emphasis on empathy as an essential quality for success in the 21st century.  On the other hand, she does warn readers that there can be a "dark side of empathy," and while the economy is placing stress on our families, it is also setting a stage for school communities to take notice of others' needs.

If you want a touch of seeing inside empathy, a teacher colleague sent me a link to John Henry Faulk's Christmas story, which first aired in 1974 on radio's "Voices in the Wind" and is now presented annually on NPR radio.  It is a beautiful story about one family being thoughtful of another family.

Smile

One of the greatest and least expensive gifts you can pass on to a child—or for that matter, any person—is a smile. Here are a few neatly written words that explain what I mean:

Smile to talk to babies. The smile they return will pay tenfold.
Smile to a child to encourage without words.
Smile to an adolescent to give confidence and your approval.

Smile to a colleague to lend support.

Smile when you want to invite someone into your life.
Smile when you want to make someone feel better.

Smile . . .

:  )

Patrick and Agnes

I can remember when my wife and I traveled with our two sons many years ago to Woolwich Arsenal, England outside of London.  We did a house exchange with a family and lived in their house right in the town.  We found ourselves walking everywhere.  To amuse ourselves, whenever we passed a dog, one of us would give the dog a name based on the look of the dog, the owner, and our general state of mind at the time.


Well, you can imagine my surprise when 23 years later I was listening to our librarian read to a group of children the book Once I Ate a Pie by Patricia MacLachlan.

Wave or Cold Cut?

You may have gathered how much I love the innocence of kids. Helping them discover the truth without discouragement is part of the challenge and joy in teaching.

The other day a Lower Elementary (grades one, two, and three) teacher bounded into my office and asked, "Do you have a minute for a precious story?" Without hesitation, I said, "Absolutely."

She went on . . .

"Two boys, second and third graders, were explaining to the class their project on tsunamis. As you might imagine, they enthusiastically conveyed their discovery and interest in the topic to the class. Both boys were going on and on about how big the waves are and how much they can destroy towns and kill a lot of people. So much so, I could see that the class was staring wide-eyed terrified with 'incredible' written all over their faces. Before I could jump in with some perspective, first grader, Mazie, piped up with 'Salamis can't really hurt you. Heck, we live in New York City. We can get to the Empire State Building and escape the salami.' I could see the relief on the faces of the class now that they knew they could escape the salami . . . I mean tsunami."

A Slice of America

This post was originally published on October 10, 2008. Because I saw Anna Deavere Smith perform her one woman show "Let Me Down Easy" recently, I wanted to sing her praises once again. She is truly an amazing actress. The NYTimes Health section did a piece "Through 1 Woman, 20 Views of Life's End". Do click on the TED link below to see her perform.

If you have never heard or watched Anna Deavere Smith, it is time to become acquainted with this very talented woman. In this 23 minute video, she portrays Studs Terkel, a woman convict, a Korean shopkeeper, and a bull rider, each character more gripping than the other. The fact that this particular performance was given at a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talk should give you an indication of its quality.

I first saw Smith at an NAIS Annual Conference and subsequently in "The West Wing" series. See a vivid slice of America by watching the TED video.

Frantic Families and Pilot Parents

When I started reading Patrick Lencioni's latest book, The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family, I did not know that, coincidentally, the same week, I would be encouraged to read Time magazine's November 30 cover story, "Can These Parents Be Saved?"  


While the book sets forth advice on how and why we (and I include myself) find families in a frantic pace, the article reveals some of the resulting frantic fallout, including "helicopter" parents and "stealth fighter" parents.  Both pieces give excellent perspective and good advice.  Start by clicking on the article that cites "a 25% drop in free playtime for 6- to 8-year olds from 1981 to '97, while homework more than doubled"; then, pick up a copy of the book that is an easy read and gives sound advice on managing a healthy family.

It's Not My Fault!

Each morning as I stand by the school door greeting kids and parents, I often relish in the open, honest dialogue that goes on between siblings, especially with parents overlooking in the background.

The other morning, brothers — one four-years old and the other six-years old — came screaming down the sidewalk on their scooters, stopping inches from my feet. With their innocent eyes looking up from under their helmets at me quizzically and without words spoken, I knew they knew that they were late. Smiling, I held my wrist up chest high with my other hand pinching my watch and said, "Four minutes late." Before I could complete the sentence, "What's the deal?" the older brother pointed his finger at his brother who was standing alongside him and said, "It's his fault." "Oh?" I asked, which was immediately followed by his statement, "He had a tantrum." Whereby both boys proceeded to make their way through the doors. Mom looked at me, rolled her eyes, and gave me a wry smile.

Reading to Middle Schoolers

Once a month I have the privilege and joy of being able to meet with and read to our seventh and eighth grade students during their morning meeting. Drawing from fiction and non-fiction, I can usually capture their interest by varying topics that pertain to their lives, classes, and culture. Some short stories I read are abridged versions, since time is limited.  Here are some of the selections I use:

• The Lottery by Shirely Jackson

• The Necklace by Guy deMaupassant

• Gift of the Magi by O'Henry

• Selections from Growing Up by Russel Baker

• "How to Be Popular" by Diedre Dolan

• excerpt from Travels with Charlie by John Steinbech

• excerpts from The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis with excerpts from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• The Feud by Saki (H. H. Munroe) adapted from The Interlopers
• The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs (see my November 4, 2009 post)
• The Ink Drinker by Eric Sanvoisin
• "Ralph Corlis, the Man Who Played to Lose" chapter from The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck
• The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
• Song and lyrics from "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins
• The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
• How Much Land Does a Man Need by Leo Tolstoy

F.A.T. City Revisited

“It’s the leading selling educational video in the world.” was the claim author Rick Lavoie made during his recent talk at Mary McDowell Center for Learning, a K-8 (soon to be K-12) school in Brooklyn, NY with a mission of working with students who have learning disabilities.  The video F.A.T. City (Frustration Anxiety Tension) never fails to inspire its viewers to become sensitized to the challenges LD students experience. Here is a clip from the video where Lavoie talks about the difficulties the LD child has distinguishing among the letters d, b, q, and p.

Lavoie presented his F.A.T City workshop for ten years before he made it into a video in 1988.  The many stories he told that evening at MMCL were entertaining and gave cogent insights into the lives of LD students.  Here were several quotes that inspired me to take pen to paper while listening:

“Positive feedback changes behavior.  Negative feedback only stops behavior.”

“The middle school child is managed by the moment.”

“Adolescent prayer: Dear God, don’t let me be humiliated today.”

“Children go to school for a living.  To prove my point, when you see a kid on the street, what do you always ask her/him? . . .  How’s school?”

A Nine-year Old's Story

Have you tapped into StoryCorps yet?  Here is a touching StoryCorps story about Brian, a nine-year old boy.  You can read about the story, "A Son's Premonition, And Final Baseball Game" but take four minutes and listen to his story as told by his mother and father.

Early Email

I sent an email to a friend of mine, a former faculty member.  Instead of addressing my email to him, I decided to address it to his two-month old daughter.  Here is my original email to her and her reply!

Hey Genie,

I just wanted to check in with you to see how your first 2 months with your Mom and Dad have been.  I'll bet you are exploring everything in sight.  I'm always talking to little ones whenever they are in the lobby at Dad's old school.  You're kinda neat people, fun to be with.

If you are here over the holidays, Genie, make sure you stop by to see Chris and me.  Maybe we can have a bottle together.

Your friend,

Dane

Dear Dane,

In a sure sign that my Mom and Dad are never supposed to sleep again, I started teething at 9 weeks old.  I just felt like they were getting kind of soft, getting more than 4 hours sleep a night and all, and it was time to step up their training as my puppets.  So, now I am wicked angry all the time because I have a tooth breaking through the gum-flesh on my lower lip.

That said, I keep Mom and Dad happy with some serious cuteness and smiles and flirty eyes whenever I am well-rested and full of milk.  That keeps them going though the poopy blow-outs and teething madness that I bring to the table.  They tell me I am pretty amazing when I throw a big smile their way, so I do it from time to time, just so they don't go totally insane.

I have heard them talk about a new download of pics to be emailed out to people in celebration of my third month of life (that's today!!) so I'll bet you will get a fun email sometime soon, with me making flirty eyes right at you big guy.

Anyway, gotta go because I have not eaten in 15 minutes.  I hope that everything is great with you and your family.

Your new friend,

Genie

Summer Professional & Curriculum Development Benefit All

As schools build their 2010-11 budgets, now is a good time to think about how to enhance professional development programs. Several years ago, on the heels of the curriculum mapping frenzy, we wanted to review, solidify, and enhance our curriculum . . . but in a way that would not tax teachers’ already busy schedules and not invest thousands of dollars in mapping instruction, software, and related support services. My school’s administrative team collaborated on building a Summer Curriculum Grants Program. Now entering its third summer, the program and direct benefits to the curriculum, teacher professional development, and classroom support are significant. Here is the program as it is presented in our Faculty and Staff Manual:
Curriculum Development Grants
     Brooklyn Heights Montessori School recognizes the importance of ongoing curriculum review and development and has established a procedure to accomplish this goal.

     Each summer a committee of faculty members — one each from Preschool, The Little Room, Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, Middle School, and the Interdisciplinary Program — will be formed under the leadership of one of the program heads. The committee will meet for one week during the summer recess, and will be charged with reviewing, developing, enhancing, and articulating curriculum in one specific academic area or discipline, using the current curriculum map as a starting point. At the end of the week, the committee will produce its final work which will then be incorporated into the School’s curriculum map.

     Each committee member will be given a stipend of $100 per diem for the work completed. Each summer a different academic curriculum will be explored and new faculty members will be selected for the committee.

     Faculty members interested in working on a curriculum committee should notify his/her Program Head by the beginning of the spring break each year. Selection of committee members will be made by Program Heads in consultation with the Head of School.

     Details of the grant:

• Work must be accomplished over a one week period after school ends

• Participants will act as ambassadors to their teams to inform colleagues of the committee’s findings and implement their recommendations

• A Program Head will provide oversight of the summer project

• The committee will address curriculum in the following order:
2008 – Mathematics
2009 – Mathematics II
2010 – Language Arts and Reading
2011 – Cultural, Social Studies and Science
2012 – Wellness and the Arts
• Beginning in 2013, the cycle will begin again with Mathematics.
• Grants will be based on a per diem rate of $100, not to exceed $500 per person.
• Grant money will be awarded upon completion of the work

Listening Leaders

In an interview with Drew Gilpin Faust, the Harvard president talks about leadership, changes she made at the University of Pennsylvania where she gained her early leadership legs. In a Sunday Times interview she has with reporter Adam Bryant, listening is one of the qualities that she attributes to her success as a leader.

She says, "I spend a huge amount of time reaching out to people, either literally or digitally . . . An enormous amount of my job is listening to people, to understand where they are, how they see the world so I can understand how to mobilize their understanding of themselves in service of the institution."

The part of the interview I appreciate the most is her answer to a follow-up prompt "But you can't make everybody happy." She responds with "No, you don't make everybody happy, but if people feel they were listened to, they're going to be much more likely to go along with a decision."

Excellent advice.