Susan Cain’s acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Quiet, is now in paperback. Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. This extraordinary book has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how introverts see themselves. This week, Educational Leadership, the flagship publication of ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) said this about the book: “Quiet will help teachers who hope to make classrooms more welcoming to introverted kids gain a greater understanding of how highly reserved children operate, how to respectfully coax them out, and how to help them learn to work comfortably in groups—in school and out.” We couldn’t agree more. And to read Susan’s article, “What Do Teachers Really Think of Quiet Students?, click here.
February 12, 2013
Susan Cain’s Quiet is Now Available in Paperback
Posted by rhacademic under This Just In | Tags: business, character, communication, culture, education, extroversion, interpersonal relations, introversion, introvert, mind, neuroscience, personality, psychology, quiet, science, self-help, shyness, social science, society, sociology, students, temperament |Leave a Comment
September 11, 2012
Actor Tony Danza Speaks Out to Educators in His New Book
Posted by rhacademic under This Just In | Tags: education, educator, high school, teacher, teaching, Tony Danza |Leave a Comment
What does Tony Danza know about education?!
As an actor, Tony Danza had conquered nearly every entertainment realm—TV, the movies, even Broadway—when one day three years ago, he felt a powerful urge to chase a childhood dream and become a teacher. He’d been inspired by a documentary made by Teach for America, the organization that trains college graduates to teach in rural and urban public schools, and he wanted to give something back. After dazzling viewers of such hit TV shows as Taxi and Who’s the Boss? and delighting Broadway audiences, he figured that, even with his lack of teaching experience, he still stood a good chance of keeping a classroom of high school kids engaged. How hard could it be?
As he found out, really hard. Entering Philadelphia’s Northeast High School’s crowded halls in September 2009, Tony found his way to a tenth-grade classroom filled with twenty-six students who were determined not to cut him any slack.
In his new book, I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High,Tony shares experiences that ranged from the infuriating to the deeply rewarding as he relives the amazing story of what happened. In his tenure at Northeast High Tony did it all, teaching Shakespeare, working detention, assisting the music and drama departments, coaching football, and helping a special group of young people through some of the most daunting personal and emotional issues.
We invite you to watch Tony’s message to educators on his site, TonyDanza.com, where you can also find more information about the book and his upcoming events.
Click here to read a conversation with Tony Danza and Erin Gruwell, author of The Freedom Writers Diary.
May 1, 2012
A Message from Dear Marcus Author Jerry McGill
Posted by rhacademic under Author Articles | Tags: Dear Marcus, disability, disability studies, education, family, forgiveness, inner-city violence, inner-city youth, Jerry McGill, poverty, teaching |[4] Comments
Last year I retired from a profession that was probably the most challenging, the most frustrating, and in many ways the most rewarding profession that I’ve ever held. When I rolled my wheelchair out of my high school English classroom for the last time, I had to take a moment to recognize and honor all that I had gained from the experience. My reasons for choosing not to return to the classroom are complex and varied, but one thing is without doubt: to watch a student read, process, and discuss a work of literature is a thing of beauty.
I recall so well my freshman class’s heartfelt reactions to the suffering of young Elie Wiesel as we became immersed in the story of Night. Class discussions revolved around the cruelty of humankind and the necessity of hope, and their journals reflected just how engrossed they were in the journey. They experienced a similar reaction when the students (who were, like the school, about 92% Caucasian) dove into the life of Richard Wright and his shocking experience of growing up in the Jim Crow South in Black Boy. During our conversations we explored topics such as the use of the “N word,” poverty, racism, religion, and, of course, the cruelty of humanity. (more…)
September 21, 2011
A Wake Up Call for All of Us: How Not Quite Adults Can Help High School Teachers
Posted by rhacademic under Author Articles | Tags: adulthood, child development, college, coming of age, education, educator, helicopter parents, high school, MacArthur Research Network, mentors, mentorship, students, teachers |Leave a Comment
Not Quite Adults by Richard Settersten and Barbara E. Ray
by Richard Settersten, co-author of Not Quite Adults: Why 20-Somethings Are Choosing a Slower Path to Adulthood, and Why It’s Good for Everyone (Bantam, 2010)
One of the inescapable burdens of being an educator relates to this simple truth: We grow older, but our students are forever young. Yet, as new students file into our classrooms each year, we’re aware of a complementary truth: Just because our students are always young doesn’t mean they’re always the same. Recent years have brought a seismic shift in the kinds of students we face.
Anchored in nearly a decade of collaborative research conducted by an interdisciplinary team of scientists assembled by the MacArthur Foundation (myself included), Not Quite Adults provides an intimate look at today’s young people.
Writing this book with my co-author, Barbara Ray, has changed how I teach and relate to my college students. Here are a few lessons that will be helpful for high school teachers, too: (more…)
September 19, 2011
A Message from Feel-Bad Education author Alfie Kohn
Posted by rhacademic under Author Articles | Tags: education, educational reform, grading, high school, measurement, testing |Leave a Comment
Feel-Bad Education by Alfie Kohn
The four years that students spend in high school are excellent preparation for the real world—assuming that they plan to live in a totalitarian society. To the detriment of students as well as teachers, most American high schools continue to embody the sort of traditional, and antidemocratic, practices that I call into question in Feel-Bad Education: And Other Contrarian Essays on Children and Schooling.
In this new book, as in my earlier work, I try to ask the radical questions—by which I mean those that get to the root of what we’re doing rather than looking for ways to tweak the status quo. For example, why do most 15-year-olds have less to say about how they spend their time in school (what they’re learning, and how, and when, and with whom) than do most 5-year-olds in kindergarten? Why do high schools seem designed to make sure that kids won’t feel part of a caring community and won’t really come to know, or be known by, any adults? (more…)
January 14, 2011
An inspirational book trailer to share with others
Posted by rhacademic under Videos | Tags: Baltimore, education, inner-city, teen mentoring, The Other Wes Moore, urban, Wes Moore, youth, youth advocacy, youth outreach |Leave a Comment
Here is the book trailer for The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, which is now available in paperback! The video is drawn from Moore’s recent talk to from Philadelphia-area students. Help spread the word about Wes and his inspirational story by sharing this video with a colleague today.
September 14, 2010
A Sense of Outrage, and a Sense of Urgency: Canada and Strickland Take Part in Landmark Documentary
Posted by rhacademic under This Just In, Videos | Tags: "Waiting for Superman", Arne Duncan, Beacon Press, Bill Strickland, charter schools, Davis Guggenheim, education, Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone, movie tie-ins, Race to the Top |Leave a Comment
Waiting for “Superman”, the new documentary from Davis Guggenheim, Academy Award-winning director of An Inconvenient Truth, examines the current state of public education in America, and, according to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “is going to create sense of outrage, and a sense of urgency” (“Schools, the Disaster Movie,” New York Magazine). Following the stories of five children from around the country, the film features interviews with luminaries at the forefront of education today, including: Geoffrey Canada (Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America) and Bill Strickland (Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary). Canada is the founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone whose 1996 memoir Fist Stick Knife Gun will be released in October as a graphic adaptation from Beacon Press. Strickland is President and CEO of Manchester Craftsmen Guild and Bidwell Training Center, which offers programs in ceramics, photography, digital arts and painting to over 500 kids a year, as well as 3,400 additional students in the Pittsburgh inner-city school district; his book has been selected for common reading at several schools.
Read articles about the film in Education Week, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. For more information, visit the film’s official website.
Waiting for “Superman” opens in select theaters on September 24.
May 21, 2010
Letter to My Daughter, Letters in the Classroom
Posted by rhacademic under Author Articles | Tags: composition, creative writing, education, essay writing, essays, George Bishop, Letter to My Daughter, letter writing, letters, writing, written correspondance |[6] Comments
Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop
by George Bishop, author of Letter to My Daughter: A Novel
In my novel Letter to My Daughter, Laura, a middle-aged mother, writes a long letter to her runaway daughter. Early on in the story, she bemoans the fact that letter writing seems to be a dying art: “In this hyperactive age of emails and text messages, the kind of correspondence that Tim [her boyfriend] and I shared must seem like an anachronism to you . . . But I sincerely hope, dear Elizabeth, that someday you might have the pleasure of such an anachronism; that one day you’ll experience for yourself the irreplaceable joy of receiving letters from a lover.” Much like my protagonist, I too appreciate the value of letters as a form of communication, and for this reason I’m always looking for ways to incorporate letter-writing activities in my English classes.
Unlike an electronic message, a letter’s a tangible thing; it’s got heft and substance. We can hold it in our hands, turn it over, smell it even. We appreciate the extra time it took the sender to write out their thoughts on paper, put the paper in an envelope, address, stamp, and mail it. A letter says, Listen to me. I’ve got something important to tell you. (more…)
May 12, 2010
“Carol Dweck’s Attitude: It’s Not About How Smart You Are” in The Chronicle of Higher Education
Posted by rhacademic under This Just In | Tags: behavior, Carol Dweck, Chronicle of Higher Education, education, intelligence, learning, mindset, psychologist, psychology, self esteem, Stanford University |[4] Comments
Mindset by Carol S. Dweck
In this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education, staff reporter David Glenn has written an interesting piece considering the pioneering work—and controversial viewpoints—of psychologist, professor and author Carol Dweck. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) took note of this article and linked to it in their weekly INBOX e-newsletter, sent out today.
Dweck, currently a professor at Stanford University, is a leading expert on motivation and personality psychology. Having done more than twenty years of research on mindset, she has come to form what many consider to be a contrarian view: by fostering the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait, and praising students for simply “being smart”, educators do a disservice not only to students but to society-at-large.
The article has sparked varied reactions among Chronicle readers. In exchange for a free copy of Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, we’d like to get your point of view as well. Simply read the Chronicle article and/or the book excerpt and post a thoughtful comment here. Then email us for your free copy (please be sure to include your full school mailing address).
April 27, 2010
A Message to Educators from Author Wes Moore
Posted by rhacademic under Author Articles | Tags: Baltimore, education, inner-city, The Other Wes Moore, urban, Wes Moore, youth, youth advocacy, youth outreach |[5] Comments
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
by Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
I am living proof that a support system of family, mentors and educators is critical for success and as such, have the most tremendous respect for those of you who give tirelessly of yourselves to improve the future of a child. I would like to humbly thank all of you for being heroes to so many of your students, for inspiring them in ways you probably cannot even fathom yet, and for teaching them character and personal responsibility in addition to academics. It is your example, your belief in them, along with the preparation you give them in the classroom that will unlock doors of opportunity.
I am a grandchild of a retired school teacher in the Bronx public school system of over 20 years, the son-in-law of a New York City public elementary school teacher of over 20 years, and a proud advocate for schools and the kids they serve. (more…)
