Category Archives: education

reports.

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*frank the 6-month-old puppy with his report card that hailed him as the “life of the party.”


spending the recent past writing report cards
for the kinder
 always a fascinating trip down memory lane
seeing how far they’ve come already

an unlimited distance still to go
the good, the bad, and the unexplained
all the good hearts, dramas, tears, and laughs
each their very own person
learning as we go.

all of us.

*more of frank the puppy’s report card:

“We sent him there because he is truly the most energetic puppy I have ever met,” his mom told Newsweek. “Our older dog needed a break,” she joked.

When Frank came home with the report card, she was in stitches. “I thought it was hysterical when I saw it because I can only imagine that Frank is probably the class clown that’ll do anything for a laugh and that’s definitely his idea of the best time,” she said.

Described on the card as the “life of the party,” the report also says that Frank loved wrestling with his buddies.

“It makes my heart so happy to know that he has so many pals at preschool,” said Spahr. Working on etiquette skills in his preschool class, the report also told Frank’s owners that his best friends are Daisy, Cooper, Vader, Hudson, and even a dog named Angus Beef.

“my report card always said, ‘jim finishes first and then disrupts the other students.”

-jim carrey

 

credits: newsweek magazine uk, alice gibbs

equality in learning.

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“education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”

*-edward everett

 

*Edward Everett was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Massachusetts, minister to Great Britain, and United States secretary of state. (1794-1865)

 

 

 

 

 

image credit: rutgers.edu

follow your eyes.

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we went to see the dinos

and along the way

we peeked inside of a magical drawer

filled with beautiful eggs and nests

what wonderful surprise

there’s always something

you don’t expect to discover

when you go to a museum.

“don’t go to a museum with a destination. museums are wormholes to other worlds. they are ecstasy machines. follow your eyes to wherever they lead you…and the world should begin to change for you.”
– jerry saltz

staying on course.

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The Thorington Schoolhouse, in use 1859-1955 Washington Township, Michigan, USA

 

“there is an old saying that the course of civilization is a race between catastrophe and education.

in a democracy such as ours, we must make sure that education wins the race.”

-john f. kennedy

 

 

image credit: jeff bondono

piaget. (repost-computer still in flux)

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*Jean Piaget (1896-1980) in his office.

Shout out to all those who didn’t tidy their office before the start of the school year.

“simple solutions seldom are. it takes a very unusual mind to undertake analysis of the obvious.”

-alfred north whitehead

*Piaget’s (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment.

credit: modern language association

the genius of each.

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as i worked on report cards over the last week

putting together my notes

gathering my thoughts

sharing my stories

telling their stories

i was reminded

that each child

has

their own gifts

their own challenges

yet each shares

without fail

a curiosity

a sense of wonder about the world

a desire to learn

and does so

in their own way.

 

“Do not train children to learn 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 the genius of each.”     

-Plato

 

 

image credit: Radhusets Julkalender 2012 – Arte del libro, Arte dell’illusrazione

goodnight, good sir.

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RIP to *Sir Ken Robinson, an eloquent and indefatigable defender of the role of the arts and creativity in education. His TED talks made him world-famous—his presentation called “Do schools kill creativity?” remains the most popular TED talk of all time, and he wrote widely, including major books on creativity in 2001 and 2015. Robinson was knighted in 2003 for his distinguished career in service to the arts.  He was a staunch critic of standardized tests and compliance-based classrooms, and an unapologetic champion of every kind of creative endeavor—from theater, to music, film, painting, dance, and everything in between. He died peacefully yesterday at the age of 70, after a brief battle with cancer, surrounded by his family. His voice will be greatly missed. – Edutopia

“the answer is not to standardize education,

but to personalize and customize it to the needs of each child and community.

there is no alternative. there never was.”

-Sir Ken Robinson, (one of my heroes in the field of education)

 

 

*Sir Ken Robinson was an author, speaker and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education and arts bodies.

 

credits: edutopia, pbs.org

distance teaching/learning.

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“learning must travel the distance from head to heart.”

-gloria steinem

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan is escalating its response to the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

On Thursday night Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the closure of all Michigan K-12 schools, including public, private and boarding, in response to the confirmed cases.

The closures start Monday and will end on April 5, according to officials. Schools are scheduled to reopen on Monday, April 6.

 

here’s to the educators, support staff, administrators, and families. all working so hard to continue our connection and to share in our partnership of caring for, and teaching their children. in a very short time, i have seen amazing work being done on all sides to support this initiative.