I don’t usually re-publish entire blog posts, but this one from Craig Meister is well worth sharing. I have made some minor edits (apologies Craig) but hopefully none that change the intent of his powerful and direct advice on how to get into Ivy League schools – ethically: So much of what you read, watch, […]
Read more "How to get into the Ivy League – Ethically"When Will Richardson visited Finland he saw something that surprised him: “… the most surprising thing I heard in talking to teachers there is that they do not get evaluated. As in never. As in, no personal improvement goals, no alignment to test scores, no unannounced “visits” to monitor what’s happening in the classroom.” If you come […]
Read more "“Teacher ‘Evaluation’ is soooo 1990s…”"One of our High School students built a table. At least, he thought he had built a table… His table was the outcome of something called the Eagle Scout Project. It requires the kind of skills that you take with you through life: planning, developing, leading others, and demonstrating leadership in the service of the […]
Read more "Sometimes a table is more than just a table…"Earlier today I was reading an interview with Dani Alves in which he reflects on his career, his time in Europe, his recent return to Brazil – as well as his determination to remain at the peak of his sport until the next football World Cup at the age of 39. I was struck by his thoughts […]
Read more "“If you win without effort, you triumph with no glory at all”"A standardized test is a set of tasks that schools give to students to tell them where a student is in their learning, how they are doing in comparison to thousands of others, and where they are most likely headed according to statistical probability. There is certainly something very seductive about the promise of standardized […]
Read more "How ‘Standard’ is Your Child?"When we talk about ‘civil discourse’ we bring together two ideas which collectively make a third. Firstly, ‘civil’ refers to people like you and me within the society in which we live. Secondly, ‘discourse’ means conversation, or exchange of ideas, or the ways in which we share our views with each other. Hence ‘civil discourse’ refers […]
Read more "What’s so civil about civil discourse…?"Do you remember that awful moment in Peter Pan when Tinkerbell is near death? If you have seen a live version at the theater you may remember the audience being asked to clap their hands to show that they still believe in fairies to inspire her to cling to life. The more they clap, the […]
Read more "Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust…"