Posts by Alden S Blodget
“No Excuse, Sir”
This is an address presented to high school students and their parents and teachers. Each time I conduct one of these awards ceremonies, I spend some time thinking about what it is that separates those who are successful students from those who are not. What characteristics do the successful possess? Though it will probably…
Read MoreAnother Generation Cometh
[Editor’s note: This speech was delivered to high school students, teachers, and parents 30 years ago. Unfortunately, its focus may be even more relevant today.] Last term, as I watched recovering alcoholic Michael Tripp speak to you during an assembly, I experienced a moment of recognition. It wasn’t a recognition of my own…
Read MoreFinding Our Own Answers: A Case Study
On November 28, I attended a truly excellent webinar conversation with Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, hosted by Intrepid Ed News and OESIS. Once again, I was struck by the response of so many teachers and administrators who, when presented with new insights into how people learn (insights that challenge the status quo), want very specific…
Read MoreIf You Prick Us
[Editor’s note: This is a speech delivered to high school students, parents, teachers, and school board on a day honoring new inductees into the Cum Laude Society, an organization that honors scholastic achievement at secondary schools, similar to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which honors scholastic achievements at the university level. Although delivered in 2005,…
Read MorePlaying the Get-Out-of-Jail Card: Improving Mental Health in Schools
“I’m walking. I’m walking right out of the door. I won’t ever be back.” The gray-haired teacher who was filmed during her meltdown in her classroom shouting those words to her students and doing exactly what she said became an instant nucleus of condensation for the torrent of frustration and stress felt by thousands of…
Read MoreRigor Mortis: Let’s Redefine Rigor to Meet Student Needs
In a country where self-serve businesses seem a fitting symbol for a pervasive approach to life, I’m not surprised that I get a lot of criticism for promoting schools that make room for the self of the student: “Kids today already seem over-indulged, narcissistic, and entitled,” say my critics. “They need to learn about the…
Read MoreCool, Connected, and Successful
Attitude usually plays an essential role in success. In my experience, the most successful students tend to see themselves as students and feel a sense of pride in being a student. Learning matters to them; they want to learn (which is very different from merely wanting a good grade). They are intellectually alive and curious,…
Read MoreRisky Business
Of all the claims that schools make, perhaps the most ubiquitous is the assertion that “our students learn to take risks.” Risk-taking is meant to suggest that students are able to “move out of their comfort zones” by trying new things—like befriending classmates from other cultures or leaping into new activities or, especially, engaging with…
Read MoreTeacher Agency Is a Good Thing: Supporting Teacher Voices
“[T]he percentages of teachers who agreed with positive statements about their profession were higher among teachers who believed their opinions were considered in school decisions and lower among those who did not believe they had a voice.” –Center on Education Policy survey Five years of work–five years that, on one night, faced a final…
Read MoreCreating Better Schools: Let’s Look to Parents
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] “We are greater than and greater for, the sum of us.” — Heather McGhee, The…
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