RefinED Friends,

If you have not yet had the opportunity to read Simon Sinek's newest book, Leaders Eat Last, give yourself a treat and do so. While I have found countless references supporting social emotional learning within this book's pages, one of the most powerful applications I have discovered is Sinek's clear review of brain science and how it can relate to the biggest pro-hazing excuse out there--"Hazing builds brotherhood/sisterhood."

Our brain releases countless neurochemicals based ...
Continue reading ...

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...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

As we conclude National Hazing Prevention Week, it's important that some of the most foundational aspects of hazing remain in the forefront--namely consent.

All too often, an excuse from those choosing to haze is, "We gave him/her the option to say no." OR "He/She told us he was okay with it."

Over the past few days, Clemson University's women's soccer team has been in the headlines for a hazing incident back in 2011. A former player alleges she was blindfolded with her freshmen...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

This scenario is likely all too familiar.

Child 1 says or acts in an inappropriate way toward Child 2.

Child 2 reacts with tears, anger, or retaliation.

Adult observes scene and approaches Child 1 and Child 2.

Adult discusses disagreement with children then says to Child 1, "Now tell Child 2 you're sorry." 

OK, so the adult wouldn't actually call the child "Child 2", but you see my point.

It is a natural and well-intentioned instinct to ask children to apologize. We want to teach re...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

Several days ago, while sifting through my Google Alert daily digest e-mails, I encountered an article entitled “Hazing to be Regular Event in Gardiner Basin” published April 7 in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Regular event? Seriously?

Mind you, all I saw at the time was the article name, the publication date, and the source. (Looking back, there was more included below, but at the time I think my shock at the article title blocked all else from my view)....

Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends:

It's important to celebrate our students' accomplishments. Although I'm no longer in the classroom, I received a heartwarming e-mail last week from a former student. A poem she wrote was chosen from among thousands of entries as a distinguished winner in the 6th Annual "Pets Add Life" Children's Poetry Contest. She sent it to me because she says I inspired her to write more. I'm beaming with teacher pride and wanted to share with you, the readers. Without further ado, here is ...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

Whether you are student or teacher, these past few weeks have been rather taxing (at least in Pennsylvania). The dreaded four-letter word. PSSA. The Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (don't worry Keystone Exam-takers, you are included as well). 

Surprisingly, I look back fondly on this time of year when I was a classroom teacher. Standardized test time also meant our poetry unit. We studied all types of poetry forms, experimented with free verse, and even conducted a p...
Continue reading ...

“Say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it.” ~Taylor Mali

It’s sometimes, like, really difficult to, um, complete even one sentence without, like, using one of these three phrases, you know?  Imagine all Internet content written in this style. You would douse your computer with gasoline and set it aflame after the first two paragraphs.

You don’t write this way, but perhaps you speak this way. Not to worry, everyone is gu...

Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

So there I was just last week, co-facilitating resiliency training for a group of fourth graders. I glanced across the gymnasium and noticed a familiar face. My third grade teacher! 

When I reached 99% certainty it was her, I called her name. She eventually put two-and-two together who I was, and we caught up for a few minutes during a break in the action. Needless to say, we both felt old in our own ways.

Part of feeling old is reminiscing, so today I dug...

Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

Several days ago, I sat in an elementary school office waiting for a meeting.  It was bus arrival, so the office hummed with teacher, parent, and student activity, all facilitated by a lone, kind administrative assistant. At one point, nearing the morning bell, two girls, likely fourth or fifth grade, came into the office looking very concerned.

"What can I do for you girls?" the administrative assistant asked.

"We have a problem on the bus," the girls replied.

"What's the proble...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

Within the past few weeks, even more information has emerged regarding the tragic death of Michael Deng at Baruch College in New York.  This nineteen-year-old young man died at the hands of his future “brothers” after being subjected to excessive physical abuse.  The case has been ruled a homicide, and it is likely the young men involved will feel the legal, emotional, and public consequences for years to come.

Incidents like these clearly match the hazing ...

Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Education (ED) released a uniform definition for bullying.  It reads as follows:  

Bullying is any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targe...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

You may have run across a recent compilation from @Amazing_Maps that labels each of the fifty US states with the most common word that auto-completed this sentence in a Google search: "Why is ___(state name)___ so...?"

The results are sometimes predictable, occasionally telling, and relatively consistent with societal stereotypes.    

With this in mind, I decided to apply the same curiosity to education-related questions. According to Google's auto-complete function, which highl...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

They burst through the glass doors before I had taken five steps from my car.  Flanked on both sides by hugs, I walked inside with them and was met with dumbfounded looks by Starbucks patrons.  Had a celebrity entered just now? By the smiles and excitement of my two former students, with whom I was visiting this Sunday, you might have thought so. One student's mother, accompanying the two, had already secured a table and treated me to a beverage.  The girls had a handmade card...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

Yesterday, my Google Alert daily digest for 'bullying' included a link to a Fox and Friends broadcast discussing Rebecca's Law, potential Florida anti-bullying legislation named after a 12 year old girl, Rebecca Sedwick, that committed suicide after repeated bullying.  In this short clip, the anchor referred to bullying as "almost a rite of passage sometimes for kids."

This is an all too common statement--one often found alongside, "kids will be kids", "boys will be boys", and ...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

I spent this past weekend in New Orleans for a fraternity Board of Directors meeting.  During that time, we welcomed Dave Westol, founder of Limberlost Consulting, Inc., former Executive VP for Theta Chi Fraternity, and one damn fine dedicated Greek battling the hazing epidemic.  Among his many useful remarks, this resonated beyond others, "You can't be my friend and haze me."

The definition of 'friend' explicitly states 'an interpersonal bond beyond simple association.'  Those...
Continue reading ...

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...
Continue reading ...

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...

Continue reading ...

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...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

I sit here, foot propped in the air, after a minor surgical procedure performed on Christmas Eve.  All this forced couch time gives me ample opportunity to build my reading list.  I'll keep today's blog post short and sweet. Here are some books I'll devour over the next few weeks.  

1.  Focus:  The Hidden Driver of Excellence  Daniel Goleman   (already devoured, and highly recommend it!)

2.  Boys Adrift:  The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Unde...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

It's human nature.  We gravitate toward what we love; we avoid what we loathe.  So why expect any different from our students?  With that in mind, let's discuss a common practice--class jobs.

When I began teaching, I followed the model I'd observed in my field experiences.  The teacher took each student's name, developed classroom job titles, and assigned each student a job.  This rotated on a regular basis.  But as time went on, I noticed human nature creeping in.  I spent eac...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

It was years ago. 

The basement was dark, the music loud.  I’d been led there, blindfolded, by an active member and told to wait.  I stood there, sensing other voices in the distance.  He told me, “Hold your arms straight out in front of you.”  I did. 

They became weighted with what could only be a tire.  “Don’t let it fall,” he said.  I didn’t. 

“Now, recite the Creed,” he demanded.  And so, from pure memorization, I did so.  The words me...

Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

In their influential 1999 book, First, Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman sifted through 25 years of Gallup Organization data from organizational interviews covering the workplace gamut.  Their goal--to identify critical questions "truly measuring the core of a strong workplace (27)."  Their answer--twelve questions that, if answered positively by employees, would indicate that the environment is a great place to work.  

When I read this back in my second y...
Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

In 1852, Cardinal John Henry Newman delivered a series of lectures entitled "The Idea of a University", emphasizing how University environments are designed to mold student minds, not simply dispense knowledge.  Within his lectures, he spent time discussing his definition of a gentleman.  As I reread this portion today, a phrase struck me:

He (the gentleman) has his eyes on all his company; he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the a...

Continue reading ...

RefinED Friends,

I remember finding it stuffed in a cabinet among some rarely used curricular materials when I moved into the classroom during my first year of teaching fifth grade.  A simple, cardboard box marked with the word "Questions?" in bold, black print. Turns out, this box was meant for collecting those delicate questions that often pop into fifth grade brains when participating in the annual human growth and development talk.  It got me thinking--if we're inviting questions about a s...
Continue reading ...

Friends:

A popular Greek myth is that of Theseus and the Minotaur.  As the story goes, King Minos of Crete, after an attack on Athens, was asked by the Athenian king for a truce.  In return for peace in Athens, every nine years the Athenian king would send seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls to Crete as food for The Minotaur in its labyrinth.

Now before you click the "New Tab" button on your browser, wondering all the while why RefinED Character chose its first blog post to feature chi...
Continue reading ...