Cancer Update

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Rick

Today, the summer solstice, marks the half year mark of the discovery that I had Metastatic Melanoma. My wife Victoria again wrote a wonderful newsletter to my extended family, and I got her permission to pass it on to you. (She’s really, really good with words.) Continue reading →

Posted in Genius | 29 Comments

Imagination and Education

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Rick

The MIND. Engage imagination before opening. To maximize academic performance, academics must be taught as a subset of the larger project of maximizing mental capacity. For both, imagination is essential.  When you watch children at work and play, you see that something inside of them agrees. Continue reading →

Posted in Achievement, Brain Development, Children, Collaborate. Create. Contribute., Collaboration, Creativity, Education, Emotional Intelligence, Fun, Genius, Learning, Mathematics Teaching, Play, project based learning, Relationships, School Culture, School Reform, Self-determination, Teaching Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Schoolyard Nastiness and Anti-Tyranny Training

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Rick

I, too, despair at watching my president stoop to schoolyard nastiness.

—David Leonhardt, New York Times, June 30, 2017

Schoolyard Nastiness! Why do we take it for granted? And why do we expect the adults in our government to behave any better than they did in school? We shouldn’t. If school were preparing our young people for full functioning in a good democracy, you would see kids working on their anti-tyranny repertoire like this group of third graders at Johns Hill, a public magnet school in Decatur, Illinois. Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Development, Challenge, Character, Children, Collaborate. Create. Contribute., Collaboration, Conflict and Issues, decision-making, Education, Emotional Intelligence, Genius, Leadership, Learning, Relationships, School Reform, Social Responsibility, Thoughtfulness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Educating the Whole Brain

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Rick

Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of genius in each.—Plato

Second grader Miranda says to the teacher: “I was looking at the tomatoes with Patrice and Josh, and we saw a wasp tackling a fly. Then it tore the fly’s head off and flew away with the body. An ant found the head and started eating it and the fly’s eyes separated from its head.” The teacher asks, “What did you think when you saw this?” She replies, “I thought, I wouldn’t want to be that fly.” Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Development, Challenge, Character, Children, Creativity, Education, Genius, Learning, Play, Self-Actualization, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Leading Your Life by Creating Great Moments

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Rick

Last Friday, the results of my PET scan revealed that the three metastases in my lungs and the one in my liver are gone. Gone! Nivolumab administered intravenously every two weeks seems to be working.

My loved ones are breathing a sigh of relief. But it’s funny that my feeling isn’t, “Oh, good. I’m not going to die,” (After all, I am going to die, right?) I’m just feeling alive. My motivation to get back to leading a life has returned, and it’s all about creating great moments with other people.

Leading a life. Leadership, hmmm. That word is heard in so many different ways, that we have lost what it is really all about. “What is great leadership, anyway?” Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Development, Challenge, Character, Collaborate. Create. Contribute., Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, Fun, Genius, Leadership, perseverance, Play, Relationships, Resilience, Respect, Responsibility, Self-Actualization, Social Responsibility, Thoughtfulness | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments