The Thorington Schoolhouse, in use 1859-1955 Washington Township, Michigan, USA
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“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
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i’m ready for you, kinder!
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art credit: gary larson, the far side
first day
so many things to wonder, so many things to discover
“the larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.”
-ralph washington sockman
*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.
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“simple solutions seldom are. it takes a very unusual mind to undertake analysis of the obvious.”
-alfred north whitehead
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*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.
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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.
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“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
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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.
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credits: edutopia, pbs.org
what an honor and a pleasure
it was
to have spent two days
with intelligent caring educators from many places
coming together
to
share, discuss, question, wonder, listen,
learn from each other
about leading
respectful, compassionate, joyful, creative, curious, playful, democratic classrooms
for young children
where they begin
to discover and grow a love of learning
about the world near and far
every experience
preparing them for what is beyond
this comforting place
they call school.
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“the limit of your present understanding
is not the limit of your possibilities.”
-guy finley
kinders get ready to enter a ‘new/old world.’
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“so many worlds,
so much to do,
so little done,
such things to be.”
-alfred lord tennyson
when reading this article about literacy
i was saddened by it
yet i was struck by an typo
not meant to be ironic
that perhaps unknowingly proved the point.
“literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.”
― kofi annan
I didn't have my glasses on.... 