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
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
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image credit: jeff bondono
—
i’m ready for you, kinder!
—
art credit: gary larson, the far side
*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
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
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
“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.
I have my glasses on.... 