Mr. Wright is leaving. He’s my daughters’ high school orchestra teacher. Everyone is deeply saddened because he’s an exceptional teacher and person. In fact, he just won the district’s exemplary teacher’s award. His students were crestfallen – he’s such an amazing teacher! This is his dream job. So why is he leaving?
Because he can’t afford to stay: His wife stays at home and he has children he must support and can’t with a teacher’s salary.
This is wrong.
One of my co-workers is a single mom and her two sons are not covered under health insurance because she can’t afford it. Every sniffle, ache and potential accident gives her great cause to worry.
We encountered the word “knickers” in our reading yesterday. My class didn’t know what they were…I recalled wearing “knickers” when I was really young – the loose pants that were bound at the knees. You know, like these:
from Pinterest
Lesson learned: Do not Google “knickers” for a 5th grade classroom on the SmartBoard.
I was listening to the Rich Roll podcast with Susan David, a medical doctor and researcher out of Harvard. They were talking about emotional agility, which is handling our emotions in a positive and flexible way, without shame and permanence. Apparently, this resonates with a lot of people as her TedTalks have been watched millions of times!
One example she cited about “social contagion” leaped out at me:
Let’s say you have decided to go on a health kick and you want to avoid junk food. You get on a plane and sit next to a stranger. He buys a candy bar. There is a 70% chance that you, too, will purchase a sugary sweet. 70%! That is social contagion.
Mini Bell Peppers (2 peppers = full day of Vitamin C!)
Here is a continuation of my notes on Paul Tough’s research regarding “grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character” as it pertains to children:
Grit p. 74
“Duckworth realized self-control has limitations. She believed that a passionate commitment to a single mission and an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission are more relevant when it comes to inventing something new or creating an award-winning (movie)/project. She called this characteristic grit.”
She created a 12 (now 10) question survey that turned out to be a remarkably accurate predictor of success.
It was more accurate a predictor of graduation rates for West Point than their own assessments.
Quantifying Character
Levin, Randolph, Seligman and Peterson narrowed a set of strengths that were indicators of life success and happiness:
Grit
Self-control
Zest
Social intelligence
Gratitude
Optimism
Curiosity
They then created a “character report card”
Much confusion among educators regarding “character” – is it moral? Is it “performance character?”
Affluence
Wealthy families may have “helicopter” parents (parents who hover over their kids as they do homework, sports, etc) but that does NOT mean they are spending quality family time together. In fact, many high-achieving, wealthy families are not closely bonded.
Madeline Levine, psychologist in Marin County, says that wealthy parents are more emotionally distant than any other parent from their children
Intense feelings of shame and hopelessness in their kids
Levine was inspired by Suniya Luthar, psychology professor at Columbia Univ who did a comparison study between low-income and high-income households.
Found 22% of wealthy kids suffered elevated rates of depression and clinically significant symptoms
35% of affluent kids tried all four substances (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and harder illegal drugs
15% of poor kids tried all four
Dan Kindlon, assistant professor of child psychology at Harvard, also found an emotional disconnect between wealthy kids and their parents
These parents were overly indulgent in their children’s bad behavior
Parents making more than $1 million said that they were far less strict than their own parents
A little hardship – discomfort – is good for children!
This is an issue in private schools – telling parents they are not parenting properly means you are criticizing your employers (clients)
A school like Riverdale (expensive, private – graduates include Chevy Chase, Carly Simon, etc) is not meant to help raise the ceiling, but to raise the floor = give kids a high probability of nonfailure.
They do not develop grit
Discipline p. 86
KIPP used to practice a lot of disciplinary action (some of which Levin regretted)
SLANT – stand up, listen, ask questions, nod, and track – taught at KIPP 5th grade
Code-switching – you must learn and practice proper behavior for the museum, college interview and nice restaurants
Rich kids at Riverdale wear casual clothes and slouch
Kids at KIPP are taught to have good posture and track teachers…formal speech
The administrators of both schools disagree on this point – what should students be taught?
As a huge fan of Lisa Congdon, I’ve basically exhausted her classes on Creativebug.com. I decided to venture out and try another artist: Molly Hatch. She’s awesome and does design work for Anthropologie. I’ve never taken art classes and she taught “the basics” which are very good to know:
Rule of the Thirds:
Basically, you make a grid of thirds (She did it on tracing paper) to help you visualize the “four corners” of intersection.” The focal point of your art (for the viewer) will be in the center and ideally, your art should touch these areas.
I love being a beginner – everything is fresh.
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Kismet 