Monday Musings
from The Kravis Center
Monday, October 1, 2018
Dear colleagues,
I hope you are able to squeeze in some time to read an article or two from this week's Musings. If not, don't fret! They will be archived on the Kravis Center portal page for you to read when some free time opens up.
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Technology in the Classroom
NEW The French government has taken the bold step of banning all smartphones in school through the equivalent of our 9th grade.
France bans smartphones in the classroom The New York Times
• Curious about what QUIA (Quintessential Instructional Archive) has to offer for the classroom?
I can put you in touch with several faculty who are using it already. We are looking for 10 people in order to get a group discount; at this point, we have seven. Let me know if you are interested.
Independent School Magazine
NEW I draw your attention to the Fall issue of the Independent School Magazine: Diversity and Inclusion: Where are we now?
I highly recommend becoming a member of NAIS if you are not one already, as the magazines have numerous highly relevant articles about education today. The summer issue focus was on Teaching and Learning.
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Mental Well-being
NEW "When the topic of depression is brought up, most people either avoid it, as they don't know what to say, or misinterpret what it actually means to be depressed." This is an article written by Phoebe Kurth, a young woman dealing with the suicide of a friend.
We need to talk about this, GoLiveGirl
NEW We cannot over-emphasize the importance of getting enough sleep, so you may see lots of articles on the topic in Monday Musings!
Sleep, again…, KQED, Mindshift
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Leadership
NEW "Being one of a very small number of school heads of color, I have often been asked whether I'd always wanted to be a head of school. This is usually immediately followed by "What did you do to become a head?" My honest answer is that I never knew I wanted to be a head of school. Upon reflecting over 20 years, I realize that all of the jobs I held previously were indeed important to my current role, but they didn't create a straight line to becoming a head of school." —James Calleroz White
Personally, I am always fascinated by the circuitous paths that many people follow to arrive where they are in the private school world. An interesting read.
Leadership Lessons: How I Got Here Independent School Magazine
Diversity & Inclusion
NEW "When Margaret Hagerman was trying to recruit white affluent families as subjects for the research she was doing on race, one prospective interviewee told her, 'I can try to connect you with my colleague at work who is black. She might be more helpful.'
I heard an interview with Margaret Hagerman on NPR the other day and was fascinated by her research.
How Well-Intentioned White Families Can Perpetuate Racism The Atlantic
• I mentioned Waking up White in the Monday Musings for September 24 and am reposting this week given the article.
I strongly recommend this book because of the historical perspective that it offers. There are many historical events with which I was not familiar (many that she added in the lecture that are not included in the book) which added tremendous depth and perspective to the systemic racism that the US faces today.
Professional Development Opportunities
Interested in learning more about Project Based Learning?
Renbrook School is hosting a lecture with
Dayna Laur
Tuesday, October 9
7 p.m.
Renbrook School
If you are interested in carpooling with other Loomis faculty to the event, please complete this quick form and I will put you in touch with others attending.
The Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale University presents a Book Talk with
Ibram X. Kendi
author of
Stamped from the Beginning
Wednesday, October 3
4:30 to 6 p.m.
Linsly-Chittenden Hall
Yale University
(No registration is required).
If you are interested in carpooling with other Loomis faculty to the event, please complete this quick form and I will put you in touch with others attending.
• Interested in online PD? See what Harvard has to offer!
Harvard workshop offerings (online and on campus)
• Blogs are a great way to stay engaged in current discussions about education. Nothing better than a top ten list to get us started!
The Ten Best Education Blogs for Modern Teachers to Follow
NEW This article, 25 Questions to guide your PBL planning (Teachthought), can help to guide your thinking on where you are with project based learning.
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Pedagogy
In the New Faculty Cohort, we have been talking about the importance of the student/teacher relationship; about how to establish this relationship, the importance of understanding and knowing, as much as possible, the cultural background of our students, all with the goal of creating a space that is conducive for learning for all. The topic never gets old!
NEW "By teaching students to 'drive their own brain' through metacognition, we provide a concrete way to guide them think about how they can best learn.
Metacognition: The Gift That Keeps Giving, Edutopia
NEW Bloom's Taxonomy gets an active makeover in this infographic (KQED, Mindshift), which provides a way to think about how the actions involved in a class assignment might be categorized in the schema.
NEW Although Loomis Chaffee teachers teach differently in many ways than college professors, I found this article clear and concise on effective ways to facilitate the learning process, no matter the age of the student. "Professors tend to cover a lot of content over the course of one class session. Yet students will probably forget most of it by the end of the semester. Why? One reason is that we focus too much on teaching, and not enough on learning. Students, therefore, don't really get to grapple with the topic you just lectured about." As Willingham says in Make it Stick, "Memory is the residue of thought."
Focus Your Lessons with the 'One-Sentence Lesson Plan', Faculty Focus
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Athletics
• A blog post by Teach Like a Champion author, Doug Lemov, that addresses the importance of "individual decision-making and the ability to participate in shared, coordinated decision-making" to team success in the realm of Athletics. Sent in by Harrison Shure
• "One teacher laments that her college students haven't read a book since 6th grade."
Neuroscience of Learning
"Metacognition. Neuroplasticity. Retrieval Practice. Amygdala. These aren't the normal words you'd expect to hear in a 15-year-old rural South African's vocabulary. Here, though, it's common talk. And why shouldn't it be?"
Why Giving Kids a Roadmap to the Brain Can Make Learning Easier, EdSurge
Humanities
NEW "(Joe) Welch, an 8th-grade teacher at North Hills Middle School in Pittsburgh, is charting his own path—one that doesn't include a textbook. Recently named National History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Welch, at 33, is the youngest recipient in the award's 14-year history."
Why Students Don't Love History, EdSurge (An Interview with Welch)
NEW "While demand for Chinese language education is on the up, stricter rules on immigration may make it harder for schools to find enough qualified teachers."
America needs more Chinese teachers, but Donald Trump's immigration policies may make it harder to get them, South China Morning Post
NEW: "When the reading brain skims texts, we don't have time to grasp complexity, to understand another's feelings or to perceive beauty. We need a new literacy for the digital age."
Skim reading is the new normal, Maryanne Wolf, The Guardian
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