I saw these lions on display at The Davis Academy Lower School alongside about a dozen others. As I looked at them I was overwhelmed by the different emotions each conveyed. What emotions do you see? I wonder if we see the same. Emmanuel Levinas, the Jewish philosopher, wrote extensively about the power of the […]
Education
Life Lessons- NOLA
I’ve just come back from two very special days in New Orleans. I was invited to NOLA by a dear colleague that I’ve known for many years and who is head of the Jewish Community Day School of New Orleans. On Sunday night I had the honor of being the musical guest at the school’s […]
Thoughts on Service Learning
Having just completed my first institute with Cathryn Berger Kaye I want to take a moment to process some of my thoughts on service learning. In that spirit here are a couple possible definitions of service learning as I currently understand it. I wonder what other folks that joined me at the seminar or who […]
A (hopefully brief) reflection on “reflection”
I’m in the midst of a 3 day seminar on “Service Learning” lead by Cathryn Berger Kaye. We’re covering a lot of ground and the entire experience might best be summarized as a “feast of inspiration.” Today we took a deeper dive into the topic of reflection. Kaye argues, persuasively (and to an admittedly sympathetic crowd), […]
Spark, flame, fire
I wonder which is easier: igniting a spark or turning a spark into a flame into a fire? When it comes to education we’ve got to do both. We’ve got to ignite a spark– even when the spark is already within our students. Then we have to turn the spark into a flame or a […]