Must all learning be difficult, a series of miserably rote chores performed by schoolchildren trapped at their desks? Or can mastering multiplication, reading, science, and writing be a romp through the playgrounds of the mind? While most students would prefer that school be as easy as possible, the truth is that the deepest human understanding—the stuff that sticks with us…
I go back about 35 years in the do-good PR and communications field and have spent much of the last decade working to build awareness of specific ways contemplative practice can facilitate deep social and environmental change. So I’m heartened by the surge of mainstream media coverage of mindfulness in the past year or so—and at the same time concerned…
By day, I’m a calm, mild-mannered middle school teacher who would do just about anything to motivate my students to do their best work and fall in love with learning. I praise their achievements and efforts, not just their high scores, and then watch those scores improve. When they stumble, I help them see how to pick themselves back up…
You may have forgotten to mark it on your calendar, but today’s date is an important one—it’s National Teacher Appreciation Day! Sean McComb was honored as Teacher of the Year by President Obama, but you don’t have to be POTUS to send a note or an email to your child’s teacher, bring some cookies to school, or get in touch…
In our age of overbearing parents and high school students driven to the point of exhaustion because they define success by the number of extracurriculars on their resumes, it’s no wonder the life of an adolescent has sped up light-years. Fifty years ago, being young was associated with contemplation and rebellion, but today the free time needed for such luxuries…
When I was a teen growing up outside New York City, my mom was a big country and western fan. I remember the collective groans from my brother, Bret, and me as she ferried us and our friends to after-school activities to the honky-tonk sounds of what I heard as hillbilly twang. One of my mom’s favorite songs was about…
As a middle school teacher, I try to be aware of the big picture—the curriculum—as well as the tiny shifting reactions of my students. I have to be conscious of how each child grows and changes over time so I can help all of them stay motivated and engaged. By the end of most days, my mind is tired yet…
What’s wrong with teenagers? Why do many of them take dangerous risks? Why do they care more about their friends than their families? And why do they lead lives of such high drama and intense self-expression? According to renowned psychologist and bestselling author Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., there’s nothing wrong with teenagers. In his new book, Brainstorm: The Power and…
Ever go to bed with the name of someone or something on the tip of your tongue? You just can’t quite remember it. Then you wake up the next morning, and bang! Mystery solved. This often happens to me after I watch an old movie on TCM, the Turner Classic Movies cable station. I’ll recognize an actor from the 1930s,…
