Getting Schooled

What I learned, what I taught and what I never got.

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My little Boxtroll #theboxtrollscc

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Anti anxiety meds @presquile winery

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Wishing Well

Sophia: Daddy, daddy look! A fountain! Can I make a wish?

Daddy: Sorry babe, I don't have any coins.

Sophia: Dollars then.

Daddy: I don't have any dollars either.

Sophia: Then your credit card.

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Sophia Learns about Happiness

[Walking hand in hand with Sophia on the way to Summer School]

Sophia: Daddy, I feel happy. It's the only feeling I know. I don't feel sad or lonely or mad or confused, only happy.

Daddy: What makes you so happy, sweetheart?

Sophia: My life.

Daddy: Tell me more.

Sophia: Cars make me happy, because they can take me places. Buildings make me happy because I can live inside them. Plants make me happy because they make the air clean... You can't change my feeling, Daddy. I'm always going to be happy.

Daddy: I sure don't want to change that feeling, sweetie.

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Sophia opened a library in her bedroom. Check out the titles in her "Adult Section"

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The kind of knowledge children most need is the knowledge that will help them get more knowledge.

Seymour Papert

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We launched this new project at the Imagination Foundation.  The Storybook, we call it.  Featuring kids, schools and communities around the world  - every day people, really - doing pretty extraordinary things with the power of "Creative Play."

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Imagine the world we can build

Ready to join this fall's 2014 Global #CardboardChallenge? http://bit.ly/GCC_2014 #creativeplay @imagination

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Students at Visible Men Academy bust a move in a thank you tribute to Kaboom

Visible Men Academy is a free K-8 public charter school for boys in Bradenton, Florida. This video was created by our Dean of Students at Visible Men Academy...

Who says school’s not fun?

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Sophia Learns About Hip Hop

Daddy: [At home, listening to Apple radio station based on Tribe Called Quest] What kinda music do you call this, Sophia? [Pause] It's called Hip...

Sophia: Hop!

Daddy: Yes, baby. Perfect. This is Mos Def. He was in a group called Black Star.

Sophia: Do you know, I have a group called Gold Star. Me, Persia, Javi and Diego. We do pretty dances which are gold dances. So we are Gold Star.

Daddy: That's cute sweetie. [Song change] Oh, and this one, this is Andre 3000.

Sophia: 3000? Hahaha. His last name is a number? A number... hahahah.

Daddy: [Catching Sophia's head bouncing] Don't you love that beat, sweetie?

Sophia: I'm trying to stop my head from nodding! [grabbing both sides of her head.

Daddy: And this one, this one is Q-Tip.

Sophia: Q-Tip??? Daddy, they all have really funny names!

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Sophia Learns at Kidspace in Pasadena

[latimes]

"If a white male teen was involved in same kind of scenario, then from top to bottom the outcome & aftermath might’ve been different."

President Obama, delivering a lengthy, emotional address on Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman and race just moments ago.

Stating that Martin "could have been me 35 years ago," Obama nonetheless said that the issue of race in America has improved, though there’s still plenty of work to be done.

Read more on the president’s surprise remarks over at Politics Now, or take a look at a transcript and the full video here.

(via latimes)

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Sophia Learns to Dream

Daddy: [our morning conversation at Starbucks] Hey Sweetie? Let's have a talk.

Sophia: OK, Daddy. Let's talk.

Daddy: Well, I wanna know about your dreams and goals. I want to know what you dream about for your life?

Sophia: Do you mean what do I think about when I sleep?

Daddy: Well, maybe. But we also say "dream" to talk about our fantasies and hopes for our lives. I want to know about your hopes and dreams.

Sophia: Well... in Cinderella they say if you talk about a wish you make on a dream then the wish won't come true. So... I can't tell you.

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Sophia Learns to Reason

Daddy: Sophia, you have to play by yourself for a couple of hours because I have to work.

Sophia: OK, but I can't decide whether to play with blocks or dolls. Blocks make you smarter, but dolls means I have to sit in a chair to play. I don't want to break my chair, and I'm already smart. So I can't decide.

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Sophia Learns About Race

Sophia: Daddy, can you read to me from this book? [handing me Zinn's People's History of the United States]

Daddy: Wow, ok. Are you sure about that, babe?

Sophia: Yes, I'm sure!

Daddy: Ok, here goes... [Random opening] 'Or Does it Explode'... The black revolt of the 1950's and 1960's came as a surprise... [Then reading Hughes' poem, "Lennox Avenue Mural"]

Sophia: Is this about black people? I wanna learn about black people! [genuine excitement]

Daddy: Why are you so excited to learn about black people, sweetheart?

Sophia: Because we are black people. All of us. We are black people.

Daddy: What do you mean, Soph?

Sophia: You and me, we are black and we are white.

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Balance in Education

Over a number of years, the balance of education, in our view, has been lost. There has been a tendency for the national debate on education to be expressed as a series of exclusive alternatives, even dichotomies: for example, as a choice between the arts or the sciences; the core curriculum or the broad curriculum; between academic standards or creativity; freedom or authority in teaching methods. We argue that these dichotomies are unhelpful. Realising the potential of young people, and raising standards of achievement and motivation includes all of these elements. Creating the right synergy and achieving the right balance in education is an urgent and complex task, from national policy making to classroom teaching.

From "All of our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education," 1999

http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/pdf/allourfutures.pdf

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Anthony Bourdain on Fatherhood

"Every cliche is true. Everything is true. It's the best thing that ever happens to you. It completely changes your life... every minute of pregnancy, delivery, infancy, every minute, every second has been an unimagined joy. It is constantly amazing to me. It's so great to not be the number one in your own universe anymore, you know? It's all about the girl now. And that is just a deeply, deeply gratifying thing."