Weekly Wrap

Posted by Dana Bennis on Dec 21, 2012 - 10:32 AM

Scott Nine and I took a moment to write about Ken Bergstrom, a friend and mentor of IDEA who has led a life of fire and been a dear professor to many.

When a well-funded initiative to expand the school day was announced, we tracked down the numbers on which countries actually have students in school the most, while the IDEA Community shared comments on how longer school days might be helpful, especially for students from low SES families. Building off posts from IDEA's Facebook page, the IDEA Community spoke some more - this time on how to build empathy among young people.

Jesse Bacon started a trend with his "Teaching is like acting" analogy... and others added their comments and alternative analogies.  And while the U.S. Senate held the first ever Congressional hearing on the school to prison pipeline with powerful testimony by a Chicago student, Vermont student John Dubie offered the powerful story of how a school in Vermont saved his life.

Two posts this past week have been some of our most widely shared and praised: First, Susan Sandler rallied us by saying we have the power to shape and interpret the Common Core Standards toward liberatory learning and justice - if we just step up.  And Darcy Bedortha told a deeply personal story of how she released expectations and held close to her intentions in her own work for equity and justice. 

And finally, of course last Friday was Newtown, Connecticut.  As we all send prayers and thoughts to the families and students of Sandy Hook Elementary School, Sam reminds us that "With every interaction in a school, we are either building community or destroying it. Let’s all do our part."

With warm wishes to everyone as we close out 2012 and welcome in 2013.

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