The development of character is not simply doing the right thing nor is it “doing your own thing” and being “a character.” We develop our character as we actively engage in conflict with other characters. Continue reading
I too despair at watching my president stoop to schoolyard nastiness.
—David Leonhardt, New York Times, June 30, 2017
Why do we expect our democracy to function better than our schoolyard? Because we don’t get what should be going on at school. The schoolyard is prime testing ground for how the kids are coming along in their preparation for democracy. What we see in the schoolyard is what we should expect to see in our government. Continue reading
I never let my schooling interfere with my education.
– Mark Twain
Making schooling educational requires changing school culture. School reform keeps failing not because of standards or curriculum or poverty or parents or privatization or technology or tests or textbooks or money. It certainly doesn’t fail for want of trying. It fails because of culture. Continue reading
Here’s is a recent report from Executive Function Coach and Trainer Erin Wilson:
“‘I am on the Aurora Bridge and getting ready jump.’
That’s what one of my high school students said to me when I answered my cell phone one Friday evening.”
“I had just gotten home from school, the Seattle summer had started early, and I was exhausted. I was getting a popsicle out of the freezer and beginning to settle down when my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize, but I had broken the rule of not giving my phone number out to students; so, student was my guess.
“I thought about ignoring it—Oh, come on! It’s Friday evening!—but I hit the green button anyway. Continue reading
Could creating a life be the purpose of school? Why not? When it is, everything works right. When schools have other ends in mind, they get discipline problems, dropouts and lower performance.
By the end of September, seventh grader Kaden was sending himself to the In School Suspension room. “The teacher hates me. What’s the point? I’ll just come here and save us both the trouble.”
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The Genius in Every Child
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