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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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...

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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...
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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...

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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...
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