Monday Musings

from The Kravis Center 

Monday, October 29, 2018 

Dear Colleagues,

 


First and foremost, I would like to post an article that Tim Lawrence shared concerning the horrific shooting at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh shooting reminds us why we must talk about hate is a short piece from tolerance.org with a plethora of resources that may help as we discuss this event. We have posted several article on the subject of diversity and inclusion as well in this issue of MM.


It has stopped raining! So, put the umbrellas away and enjoy a wonderful day of visiting classes. The following three questions may help guide your visits this week.


What do we want students to know and be able to do?
How will we know what students know and are able to do?
What experiences and supports will students need to get there?

 

Spending time in a library at any age is a true privilege, so I share this NY Times article: 12 authors write about the libraries they love because it reminds us all what we truly love about libraries.


Finally, please send an email to Sara if you are interested in serving on the Kravis Council. The council will have a pulse on the desires and expectations of the faculty concerning professional development at Loomis Chaffee and help to guide those options. We will ultimately ask three to four people to join the council this year, add two to three members next year, and then rotate through in subsequent years.


Have a wonderful week of class observations.


Sara, Rachel and Harrison

 

 

Student Success/Mental Health and Wellbeing


This NY Times article from 2015 Where children live has a direct impact on families finding a way out of generational poverty. This article talks about a Seattle community that is taking the research one step further.

 

The Perils of the Child Perfectionist

 

Vulnerability


The Power of Vulnerability in Professional Development: Sharing your students work with your peers fuels incredible professional growth. This piece from edutopia talks about the importance of seeking help from colleagues as we strive to improve our students' learning experience.


How vulnerability can make our lives better. This piece on vulnerability by BrenĂ© Brown, as well as her TED talk (one of the top 10 most viewed TED talks in the world)  posted in last week's Monday "she talks about how she's been able to embrace her own vulnerability, shares a story of an entrepreneur who dared greatly to achieve success, and explains how vulnerability really works in our society and more."

 

 

Diversity and Inclusion

 

-Blackface: A Cultural History of a Racist Art Form is a short video that CBS did in response to Megyn Kelly's controversial remarks on blackface.

 

-Here's a great set of resources via Facing History that respond to all three hateful events across America last week.

 

Here is the Teaching Tolerance link provides a great list of resources for these challenging times.

 

Five Ways to Make Classrooms More Inclusive

 

Class Observation

 

Teachers Observing Teachers: A Professional Development Tool for Every School.

 

I have included this article by Atul Gawande of The New Yorker  entitled Curiosity and the Prisoner because, although he focuses on his experience as a surgeon, the idea of curiosity rings true for all of us, especially in education and especially as we head into Open Classroom Week.

 

Here is the Open Classroom Week google doc. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask Harrison, Rachel or me.

Curriculum and Pedagogy


The Prophetic Pragmatism of Frederick Douglass I thought this was an interesting piece, espeically given that the Freshman are currently reading Frederick Douglass.

 

Social Media and our Children/Students


"I am convinced the devil lives in our phones." NYTimes

 
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