The Secret to Learning Anything: Albert Einstein’s Advice to His Son. How To Be a Nonconformist: 22 Irreverent Illustrated Steps to Counterculture Cred from 1968. By Maria Popova “Avoid socks. They are a fatal giveaway of a phony nonconformist.” “Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else? ,” James Thurber asked in the caption to a 1958 New Yorker cartoon depicting a woman fed up with her artist partner. It remains unknown whether the cartoon itself, or this cultural dismay shared by some of the era’s counterculture thinkers, inspired the 1968 gem How To Be a Nonconformist (public library) by Elissa Jane Karg. One could easily imagine that if Edward Gorey, master of pen-and-ink irreverence, and Patti Smith, godmother of punk-rock, had collaborated, this would’ve been the result.
But what’s most impressive is that Karg was only sixteen at the time, a self-described “cynical & skeptical junior at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut,” qualified to examine nonconformity as “an angry and amused observer” of her “cool contemporaries.” Donating = Loving Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month. A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist. By Maria Popova “You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.” The commencement address is a special kind of modern communication art, and its greatest masterpieces tend to either become a book — take, for instance, David Foster Wallace on the meaning of life, Neil Gaiman on the resilience of the creative spirit, Ann Patchett on storytelling and belonging, and Joseph Brodsky on winning the game of life — or have originated from a book, such as Debbie Millman on courage and the creative life.
One of the greatest commencement speeches of all time, however, has an unusual story that flies in the face of both traditional trajectories. In 2000, Villanova University invited Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, journalist, and New York Times op-ed columnist Anna Quindlen to deliver the annual commencement address. But once the announcement was made, a group of conservative students staged a protest against Quindlen’s strong liberal views. The commencement was cancelled. 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently. This list has been expanded into the new book, “Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind,” by Carolyn Gregoire and Scott Barry Kaufman.
Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process. Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. As scientists now understand it, creativity is far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the theory being that left brain = rational and analytical, right brain = creative and emotional). While there’s no “typical” creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people. They daydream. They “fail up.” You think you know what teachers do. Right? Wrong. (By Charles Rex Arbogast/ AP) You went to school so you think you know what teachers do, right?
You are wrong. Here’s a piece explaining all of this from Sarah Blaine, a mom, former teacher and full-time practicing attorney in New Jersey who writes at her parentingthecore blog, where this first appeared. By Sarah Blaine We all know what teachers do, right? So we know teachers. We know. Teaching as a profession has no mystery. We were students, and therefore we know teachers. We are wrong. We need to honor teachers. Most of all, we need to stop thinking that we know anything about teaching merely by virtue of having once been students. We don’t know. I spent a little over a year earning a master of arts in teaching degree. I didn’t stay. I passed the bar. I worked hard in my first year of practicing law. But I continued to practice. New teachers take on full responsibility the day they set foot in their first classrooms. You did not design lessons that succeeded. You did not. What Students Remember Most About Teachers | Pursuit of a Joyful Life.
Dear Young Teacher Down the Hall, I saw you as you rushed past me in the lunch room. Urgent. In a hurry to catch a bite before the final bell would ring calling all the students back inside. I noticed that your eyes showed tension. There were faint creases in your forehead. And I asked you how your day was going and you sighed. “Oh, fine,” you replied. But I knew it was anything but fine. You told me how busy you were, how much there was to do. I told you to remember that at the end of the day, it’s not about the lesson plan. And as I looked at you there wearing all that worry under all that strain, I said it’s about being there for your kids. No, they’ll not remember that amazing decor you’ve designed. But they will remember you. Your kindness. Because at the end of the day, what really matters is YOU. You are that difference in their lives.
Because we want our students to think we’re the very best at what we do and we believe that this status of excellence is achieved merely by doing. Hold On I'm Coming. Hold on I'm coming It's a mighty awesome view from the bottom of this education landscape and this morning I was listening to Sam and Dave's Hold On I'm Coming. This brightened my day and gave the movement that I'm leading a rallying cry or theme song. So to the top flight leaders I will say HOLD ON I'M COMING!!!! Just taking a step back to look at the programs and processes in place it is a humbling experience. Currently in place we have: early morning intervention, push-in support to classroom, elective based intervention (for reading, math, and science), Blue Ribbon Blitz (a built in intervention), PowerHour after school intervention and Fired Up Friday.
During these interventions each student is taught and provided targeted instruction that is meant to increase their overall achievement. To take you back to the beginning and the need for these programs, I would have to mention that it was common place to have 4th & 5th graders performing on a kindergarten level in all academic areas.