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2021 Summer Virtual Journalism Symposium CLICK HERE TO REGISTER THE SYMPOSIUM IS OPEN TO ALL PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS. About the Symposium Attendees will hear from and engage in discussion with Prof. Erica Salkin, author of Private Schools and Student Media: Supporting Mission, Students and Community , award-winning student journalists, experienced advisers, administrators, counsel from the National Association of Independent Schools and Student Press Law Center , SNO Sites , which supports online student journalism, and Journalism Education Association President Sarah Nichols. This symposium ...
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As a high school humanities teacher, my blood boiled when on Thursday, Nov. 5, President Donald J. Trump claimed widespread voter fraud in a primetime address from the White House grounds. “If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” he said. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late — we’re looking at them very strongly. But a lot of votes came in late.” Not only are those claims entirely unfounded and baseless, but those words, coming directly from the mouth of the leader of the free world, also have no precedence in American history. I’m anxious for the rest of the night, thinking ...
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Dear Colleagues, The recently established Private School Journalism Association is seeking advisory members to promote student voice in our sector. If your school is particularly strong with student publications, I would be grateful to chat about my overall goals for the organization and how your community can help. In the short term, I am working on establishing a virtual conference for student media advisers to discuss challenges and successes unique to private schools. Next spring, I hope to organize an inaugural face-to-face conference at Brimmer and May (Chestnut Hill, MA) for any and all private schools interested in improving the quality of student ...
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Hello Everyone, I am reaching out for some knowledge, at my organization we call people who have went to our school but did not graduate Associate Alumni. and how we handle them has fell through the cracks as far as how long they have to go to the school to be considered. I was wondering if anyone could let me know their guild lines for this and best practices? we are trying to nail down new policies and procedures and any help who be greatly appreciated! All my best Matthew
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Dear Colleagues, I thought to share two recent articles that my budding student-journalists have written for The Gator , the award-winning newspaper of Brimmer and May (MA). Both pieces have received a high numbers of visits. Remember, fostering student voice is a great way to fulfill mission statements. It's Not Easy to Feel Beautiful Living with Social Anxiety If your school wants help or advice with its student publications, don't hesitate to reach out. You can also check out my new organizations, the Private School Journalism Association . I'm happy to offer my services, free of charge. Best,
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Dear Colleagues, I thought to share a talk I recently gave, "The Dying State of Private School Journalism." I also offer how solutions and advice for tackling this critical issue. https://bmgator.org/2019/10/22/gnn-live-state-of-journalism-at-independent-schools/
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Dear Colleagues, I thought share my most recent Edutopia piece . "Letters of recommendation are an important part of the college application process, and I take seriously requests to write these letters. A good letter conveys a student’s character and abilities to admission officers and potential employers. A few simple guidelines can make the letter-writing process run smoothly." Please visit this link for the rest of the story: https://www.edutopia.org/article/tips-writing-strong-letters-recommendation
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Dear Colleagues, I thought to include a link to my recent Edutopia article: https://www.edutopia.org/article/tips-allowing-test-retakes Tips for Allowing Test Retakes Giving students a chance to redo tests and assignments can help them keep striving for mastery, if the process is well managed.
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Dear Colleagues, I'm excited to share my recent article, Why Student Journalism Matters. https://well-schooled.com/2019/03/why-student-journalism-matters/ EXCERPT: “There is so much documented benefit to working on student press that, unless your mission is, ‘We don’t want to teach, and we want them to come out incredibly compliant,’ you cannot claim that you’re living by your mission statement.” - Prof. Erica Slain
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Dear Colleagues, I'm excited to share my recent story, which includes insight and a podcast interview with Jonathan Haidt, coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind, as well as Tim Shriver, President of CASEL. A Teacher’s Quest to Foster Resilience and Combat Fragility in Generation Z EXCEPRT: After a dozen years in the classroom, on more occasions than I can count, I have overlooked penalizing lateness, telling myself that students have enough on their plates with AP courses, after-school obligations, and college applications. As a young teacher, I also added a point or two to grades, not wanting to waste time arguing over whether an 89% is a B+, ...
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Dear Colleagues, I thought to share my most recent piece, which I feel passionate about sharing https://medium.com/@spincutler/the-dead-or-dying-state-of-student-journalism-at-independent-schools-cfbfdb30fb1b?source=friends_link&sk=02914959ac8a70ada3673220fbf0df3b If for whatever reason you are unable to access the link , I've also included the story below: From the fourth grade on, and now as a high school teacher at my alma mater, I’ve been privileged to belong to the independent school community. Not only have I experienced firsthand what makes our small but vibrant community special, but I’ve also connected with colleagues ...
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It's taken me awhile to process Viola Davis' stirring opening keynote. I've always respected her as a powerful actress, beautiful orator, and incredible representation of what happens when we allow folks of color to have complex roles and stories in tv and media and yet I still did not expect that I would be so moved by her talk. It was yet another example of the power of storytelling and what happens when we make room for narratives that are counter to what we hear about notions of success and heroism. When folks trust you enough to hold their stories, it is an incredible gift and the reason why I will be forever grateful for Ms. Davis. That she allowed ...
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Frans Johansson held a rapt audience during his keynote on Thursday, rolling through a visual, levity-laden autobiography which ended with him being right here at #NAISAC with us. Drawing from his writing in The Medici Effect (Harvard Business School Press, 2004) and The Click Moment (Penguin Portfolio, 2012) , Johansson began with an emphasis on diversity as a birthplace for innovation. He asserted that we have the best chance of breaking new ground when we embrace and bring together divergent teams, yet “we tend to think that deep expertise is the key to success.” The #medicieffect centers on the history of a sponsored, highly-creative group ...
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Each year, I am recharged and inspired by my time at #NAISAC . In anticipation, I pack my physical and mental suitcases with care, ready to engage with others, to piece out elements and lessons to bring back to my school, and to share in the community of knowledge and colleagues. This year, I elected to attend a Wednesday session to kick off the conference: Women and Leadership: Patterns, Strategies and Tools for Navigating Your Leadership Journey , presented by Amada Torres of #NAIS and Liz Duffy of International Schools Services . Torres and Duffy shared highlights from Joan Williams work from What Works for Women at Work: Four Patterns ...
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Dear Colleagues, I thought to share my podcast with Tim Shriver, chair of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning ( CASEL ) about SEL in general, and at private schools. https://soundcloud.com/bmgator-1/tim-shriver-interview-sel Best,
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Colleagues, Happy New Year! I thought to share this podcast interview I just conducted with Jonathan Haidt, co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind , which is making quite the splash. We speak about how his book, which focuses mostly on college students, is equally applicable to high schools, and independent schools in particular. My next article will be about this subject, but I thought to share the trimmed down audio back-and-forth. https://soundcloud.com/user-384063940/coddling-haidt Best,
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Growing up, I have to admit, there weren’t too many people I looked up to that I could turn to for future life advice. My heroes were far off and admirable, but not close by and connectable. Kids who had that coach, mentor, or guide always seemed to have someone in their corner to offer advice or expand their thinking in ways they had not considered. I admit, I was fiercely independent, and eventually found my own way and sought out people who could be those mentors, but it wasn’t until college and beyond when I realized the value those people could serve, and everything I had been missing. For girls, strong female mentors can help provide role models of how ...
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Colleagues, I thought to share my recent Edutopia article . "Teachers and schools are not guaranteed absolute protection from fair-use infringement claims. Well-intentioned teachers believe that because we are educators, we are immune to claims. It is a false and dangerous assumption." https://www.edutopia.org/article/copyright-law-and-student-journalism
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Dear Colleagues, I thought to share my new stor y, which I wrote in reaction to having read the New York Times best-selling book. It's an edgy piece, but I hope that it will help foster civil, productive discussion about an important topic. https://medium.com/@spincutler/teaching-the-coddled-generation-10543b873da6 Here is my favorite paragraph from the piece: I believe that providing a platform for fools to speak, even in our venomous political climate, is essential to revealing their foolishness. Could speaking engagements by hate-mongers on college campuses cause damage, contaminating impressionable young people? Maybe, but countless more young people ...
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Dear Colleagues, I'm honored to share my recent article for PBS NewsHour, which you can access by clicking here . https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/opinion-what-i-want-my-students-to-know-about-metoo Here is the opening paragraph: As an educator and a new parent of a son, I intend to do my best to raise him into a caring, responsible individual. In this endeavor, my wife and I are aware of the current political climate, especially the growth of the #MeToo movement, and what that means for treating women, and everyone else, for that matter, with respect, equality, and thoughtfulness. As I see it, my role can help to make a difference on that ...
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