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A Thought Experiment That Will Make You Thankful for Your Teachers

Posted by Scott Heydt on Thursday, November 27, 2014, In : Recommended Reads

RefinED Friends,

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Inda Schaenen's book Speaking of Fourth Grade: What Listening to Kids Tells Us About Schools in America. In it, she offers a seemingly hyperbolic but paradoxically realistic glimpse into the complexities of teaching with a simple thought experiment. It reads as follows:

A thought experiment: tie your shoe. Now teach a five-year-old how to tie her shoe. Next teach that same child how to tie someone else's shoe. Now make picture instruction...
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If It Takes Time, It's Worth It

Posted by Scott Heydt on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, In : Why Social Emotional Education?

RefinED Friends,

Today, two weeks post leg surgery, I visited my surgeon for a follow up appointment. In four weeks, I can return to my athletic passion--running. "Go slow," the surgeon warned me. "The biggest mistake people make after a surgery like this is trying to get back to it too quickly. Go slow."

Confession: I am not a patient person.

"But Scott," you say, "aren't you a teacher? Doesn't that necessitate patience?"

True, in the classroom I can often channel my patience in servic...
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Pennsylvania Masonic Life Skills Conference- 2014

Posted by Scott Heydt on Friday, January 3, 2014,

RefinED Friends,

I believe strongly in the transformative work that takes place at this conference. Twice, I have been privileged enough to serve as a staff facilitator. I will again in 2015. Please read the information below and share this information with any students you feel would benefit.

Life Skills Conference 2014

Every summer the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation brings children ages 12-17 from throughout the world to the Patton Campus in Elizabethtown, PA to experience wh...

Three Names You May Not Know, But Should

Posted by Scott Heydt on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, In : SEL and Neurodevelopment

RefinED Friends,

Jay Giedd, Jean Decety, Lauren Howard. Do these names ring a bell? Perhaps, perhaps not. Regardless, they know your brain. They're in your heads.

I'm a professed neuroscience geek. Over the last few years, I've become increasingly fascinated by studies involving Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and concentrated research connecting social emotional learning and childhood brain development. Technology now allows scientists to map active regions of the brain as i...
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