NETSCHOOL
A month ago, one of our most important thinkers on education in this country, Sam Chaltain, wrote a piece asking, Is public education really facing its own "Blockbuster moment"? I encourage you to...
View ArticleVOICES IN THE ROOM
In his article, In Pursuit of the Perfect Brainstorm, in The New York Times Magazine, David Segal writes about ways in which Corporate America is seeking help to come up with new ideas. bit.ly/gNlVLr...
View ArticleThanks Google
In September I wrote a piece on this blog called, “It’s Scary” about the apprehension we, particularly older people, feel about keeping up with technology. Can we learn quickly enough to keep pace?...
View ArticleWHO KNEW?
Forty years ago Peg Sawyer, a teaching colleague of mine at a small school in rural New Hampshire, and I got the idea to direct some plays by children for children in the summer. We got the support of...
View ArticleSCRANTON SUNDAY
I went to the theater recently. The show was charming and engaging, an original commedia dell’arte piece that included some very clever use of puppets of all shapes and sizes. I was taken in by the...
View ArticleFULL CIRCLE
Twenty-two years ago I wrote a college recommendation for an outstanding theater student of mine, Mark Shanahan. I began by writing about his significant talent. I continued by saying…”even though I...
View ArticleWilliams vs. Watson?
Watson, the supercomputer, just defeated two Jeopardy superstars. I know that Watson’s predecessors beat champion humans at chess and checkers. What games are next? As far as I’m concerned Watson is...
View ArticleSal Kahn & Kahn Academy
Many of my friends in education know about Sal Khan and Khan Academy. Yet there are many more who don’t. He’s quite an amazing guy. I believe his work will change education in important ways, even...
View ArticleLet Kids Rule The School
Susan Engel wrote this in the March 15 New York Times. http://nyti.ms/edN8oj I'd be curious to know more about what the kids she describes did. What books did they read? Did any of them use Kahn...
View ArticleOnly In New York?
In a recent Op-Ed piece in The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/edN8oj), Susan Engel describes eight high school students who took responsibility for designing their own school within a school for a...
View ArticleIt Takes A Village
Since January I’ve had the good fortune to work with students from It Takes a Village Academy (ITAVA) in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Recently ITAVA’s Robotics team won the First Robotics Competition at...
View ArticleThe Mailmen
In the past few years I’ve seen the high end and the low end of education in New York City. I’ve taught in a private school (the kind the media like to refer to as “elite” or “tony” or “prestigious”)...
View ArticleParty On
I went to a retirement party for a former teaching colleague of mine this week. There were lots of other teacher colleagues there to wish him well. He’s had a long, successful career: a gifted English...
View ArticleParty Clean Up
I’ve been writing this blog for a little over a year now. It’s subtitled “a blog on creativity, in our schools and in the workplace”. My most recent post, “Party On” touches on creativity, only in...
View ArticlePlaying The Tapes
I woke up early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I found myself doing something I too often do. I call it Playing The Tapes. My anxious mind is like a cassette tape player. I have a...
View ArticleWhere Will It End?
The college driven mania in New York’s private schools continues apace. Consider this recent article from the Wall Street Journal. http://on.wsj.com/mu0RuF Then, read this about tutoring in New York...
View ArticleTinkerers, John Seely Brown, Mike Toborg
I just rewatched John Seely Brown’s short video “Tinkering As A Mode of Knowledge Production” http://bit.ly/l0usP3. I recommend it. Tinker is such a good word. A quick dictionary check found: to...
View Article"The child stayed with the man."
I have been reading and rereading James Gleick’s elegant book, The Information. It is the story of the development of information technologies as they have advanced over the course of history, from...
View ArticleSummer Reading
I recently received the following e-mail from a former teaching colleague of mine. “While hanging out at the pool, I have been doing my summer reading requirement and have actually been profoundly...
View ArticleMy Beautiful Boy
I haven't posted here for quite some time. From henceforth this blog will include not only my thoughts and observations on creativity and education, but also on issues surrounding drug addiction,...
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