The Parent Diaries

6500 GIRLS AND BUDDIES ARE SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GIRLS ON THE RUN REINDEER ROMP 5 K TOMORROW

2009-12-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

More than 6500 girls in grades 3 to 8 are scheduled to turn out for this Saturday’s 5K Reindeer Romp Fun Run, hosted by Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia. Be there to cheer the kids on at the Reston Town Center on Saturday, December 5, starting at 8:30 a.m.

“We were blown away by the response and support we have gotten for this event and sold out so fast that we actually had to turn some runners away,” explains executive director Catherine Keightley. “I believe that is simply a testimony to the power of this program.”

In fact, more than 3000 girls in nearly 180 schools from all over Northern Virginia have participated for the last 10 weeks in our Girls on the Run program to empower girls with a greater sense of self-awareness, self esteem and healthy living through the power of running.

“This run is the culmination and celebration of their efforts, and pairs the girls with a buddy runner to help them achieve their goals,” Keightley adds.

Sponsors of the event include Argon ST (http://www.argonst.com), Fitness Together (www.FTCustomFitness.com), PTR Group, Potomac River Running, and the Reston Town Center.

For more information about the run, contact Catherine at (703) 405 5727, and visit www.girlsontherunofnova.org.

How to Protect Yourself If There's a Pandemic

2009-09-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

No parent wants to think about a pandemic, but on the anniversary of 9-11 terrorist attacks we're reminded that the worst is always possible. Here are some good tips to keep in mind.

The best strategy

To reduce the risk of becoming ill with pandemic influenza, avoid crowded settings and other situations that increase the risk of exposure to someone who may be infected. If you must be in a crowded setting, minimize your time there. Some basic hygiene and social distancing precautions that can be used in every workplace include the following:

· Stay home if you are sick.
· Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or with a hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
· Avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes.
· Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your upper sleeve. Dispose of tissues in no-touch trash receptacles.
· Wash your hands or use a hand sanitizer after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.
· Avoid close contact (within 6 feet) with coworkers and customers.
· Avoid shaking hands and always wash your hands after physical contact with others.
· If wearing gloves, always wash your hands after removing them.
· Keep frequently touched common surfaces (for example, telephones, computer equipment, etc.) clean.
· Try not to use other workers' phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment.
· Minimize group meetings; use e-mails, phones and text messaging. If meetings are unavoidable, avoid close contact (within 6 feet) with others and ensure that the meeting room is properly ventilated.
· Limit unnecessary visitors to the workplace.
· Maintain a healthy lifestyle; attention to rest, diet, exercise, and relaxation helps maintain physical and emotional health.

For more information, see Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic, OSHA Publication No. 3327, which can be accessed at www.osha.gov.

Another important step is to be prepared for an emergency

Here are three easy things you can do to be ready for what may come:

1. Prepare an emergency kit — It should include essential items to last at least three days such as a battery-powered radio and extra batteries, food, water, flashlight, a first-aid kit, blankets and medications.

2. Make a plan — Discuss the hazards and threats for your area and what your family would do during an actual emergency. Decide on a meeting place in case you cannot return home and designate an out-of-town friend or relative as a point-of-contact.

3. Stay informed — Local media will announce important instructions from local, state and federal officials. They will tell you about evacuation orders, how to safely stay where you are and when the emergency ends.

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-10T01:27:00.000-07:00

With my 45th birthday just around the corner, my dearest friend Lisa sent my this column by The Plain Dealer columnist Regina Brett. "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 Lessons Life Taught Me," Regina wrote when she posted it on June 6. "It is the most-requested column I've ever written." Not surprising. And for the record: The author has been said to be 90, but in her June 6 column she fessed up to not her real age: 53. See that column here: www.cleveland.com.

Regina Brett's "45 Lessons Life Taught Me"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.

31. However good or bad a situation is , it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Remember: Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.

G is for Green

2009-04-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

From organic peas to natural wooden toys, most adults are determined to expose their little ones only to the safest items. These days, many are also looking for environmentally friendly children's products. Execs at the UK-based publishing company Priddy Books have taken the cue from these savvy customers, and recently launched the Organic Baby book series, which is printed on recycled paper with soy ink, as opposed to the traditional cardboard-and-petroleum-ink menthod.

“We’ve always wanted to do our best to protect the environment for future generations, and using recycled paper and soy ink seemed like a great idea,” says Bill Kelly, associate publisher for Priddy Books North America. “Plus, many retail chains that carry our books are insisting on it. We couldn't ignore it.”

The big question for Kelly was whether the books—which are mostly color photographs—would look as good printed on recycled stock. Another issue was whether the soy ink would hold up, say, when toddlers chewed on them. After months of safety tests (including Costco’s own lab) and research on Priddy’s target market of babies to 8-year-olds, it turned out that books printed on 60 percent of recycled material and 40 percent regular paper looked great and held up just fine.

Indeed, it’s tough to tell that one Priddy’s newest titles, Organic Baby Animals, isn't printed on cardboard with petroleum ink. Vivid photographs of pets (cats, goldfish, and puppies), babies on the farm (chicks, foal, and lambs), animals in the forest and woods (frogs, alligators, and squirrels) have reproduced clear and crisp. Although we didn’t do a lick test, the oversized board book stood up to a recent trip to the beach.

Like all Priddy Books, there are guidelines on the back for parents that provide information on the skills the book enhances—such as speaking skills, 100 first words, and details on the benefits of using recycled paper and printing with soy ink. “We don’t overtly advertise that these books are environmentally-friendly, but our parent’s guide on the back cover offers information on what each book is supposed to accomplish in terms of skill level,” Kelly notes. “No one trains you on how to be a good parent, so we try to help whenever possible.”

Kelly and Priddy know of what they speak. Both have been in the children’s book business for decades, working first for the children’s book publisher DK Books before that company was purchased to Macmillan in 1999. The businessmen suggested to their new bosses that they start a children’s division, and since 2000 Priddy Books has been the imprint on most of Macmillan’s children’s atlases, dictionaries, and non-fiction titles. Four books have been published so far in the Organic Baby line, and several more are on the drawing board.

Although Kelly says he and Priddy are excited about using more natural materials, their real mission is to help kids stay in touch with the magic of childhood. “Whereas children used to like whimsical illustrated books, today they are into reality and interaction,” Kelly confesses. “That’s why most of our books feature photographs of real kids, real animals, and real dinosaur models. But we don’t want them to lose their imagination.” Although it’s nice for a parent to read a story to the child, they believe it’s more educational for the child to become involved in the process. “At Priddy Books, we strive to strike the perfect balance.”

Article by Hope Katz Gibbs for The Costco Connection, April 2009.

Hope Katz Gibbs is a freelance writer and lover of all things organic. She does her best to be green in her x-urban home in Northern Virginia.

"Top Educators Under 40" — Scholastic Administrator magazine

2009-02-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

In its February issue, Scholastic Administrator magazine picked 10 "Top Educators Under 40," including our friend Peter Noonan, Fairfax County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services.

Reporter Caralee Adam asked: How is a younger generation is changing the face of education? She wrote, "To overcome the enormous challenges facing our schools today, new leaders must emerge—leaders who believe that they can change the system, who demonstrate relentless energy and unyielding passion, and who hold tight to an unwavering commitment to always put children first. Their task is daunting, to say the least, but here is the good news: Some of them are already here. Whether teachers or superintendents or CEOs, these superstars of education are, first and foremost, innovators, and all of them are 40 years old or younger. Out of hundreds of possible candidates, Scholastic Administator chose ten to share their stories here. Through their own words, you’ll feel their frustrations, hear of their accomplishments, and see how their vision for a new day is transforming our schools."

Noonan, 40, said:

*About his job:* Responsible for curriculum and instruction for 168,000 students, who, among them, speak 140 different languages.

*Why he loves his job:* “It allows me to focus on what is most important in education: instruction.”

*The challenge:* “Grasping the magnitude of what needs to be done.”

*Biggest accomplishment:* Setting up eCART (Electronic Curriculum Assessment Resource Tool) for all teachers to access their curriculum and lessons plans electronically.

*Education policy wish:* “We need to take a hard look at NCLB. The intent and spirit was good. But we have some outstanding educators and schools that have been labeled as failing, and that has a devastating effect on the community.”

*What’s next:* “I have a lot of work to do in this position. I have no intention of going anywhere soon.” But ultimately? “I’d like to become a superintendent someday.”

The other educators profiled included:

• Robert Scott, 39, Commissioner of Education, Texas Education Agency, Austin, TX
• Susan Patrick, 38, President and CEO, International Association for K–12 Online Learning (iNACOL), Vienna, VA
• Ron Clark, 37, Founder, Ron Clark Academy, Atlanta, GA
• David Schuler, 38, Superintendent, Township High (IL) School District 214
• Michelle Rhee, 39, Chancellor, D.C. Public Schools
• Kimberly Oliver Burnim, 32, Teacher, Broad Acres Elementary School, Silver Spring, MD
• Meria Carstarphen, 38, Superintendent, St. Paul (MN) Public Schools
• David Levin, 38, Cofounder and Superintendent, kipp Academy, South Bronx, NY

Read the entire article here.

The Lost Generation

2009-02-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

Don't think so!
Check out this fabulous
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA.

Former Sec. Margaret Spellings talks about 21st Century Skills

2009-02-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Former secretary of education margaret Spellings visited Fairfax High School on November 19 to view the AVID program and observe other cutting-edge initiatives it has embarked on with the goal of improving students’ 21st Century Skills.
As one of the principal authors of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, Spellings said throughout her four-year tenure, “We cannot prepare students for the global economy if we don’t get them to grade level first.” In 2005 she convened a Commission on the Future of Higher Education to recommend reform at the post-secondary level.

The reason for concern, she explained during her trip to FHS, is that students are not being adequately prepared to land jobs after they graduate from high school. Spellings pointed to a national survey of human resource executives that reported:
• Nearly 70% believe high school graduates fall short when it comes to critical thinking skills
• 81% say high school grads have deficient writing skills
• Almost 1/3 said they will reduce their hiring of employees that only have a high school diploma

The Language Lab Spellings’ first stop on her tour of FHS was Michele Campbell’s Spanish 4 classroom. Soon after the Secretary took a seat in the language lab, baskets containing interconnected headsets were mechanically lowered for students to use. The system enables students to hear the lesson Campbell is delivering. The roar of the giant machine slightly startled Spellings, who looked to the student seated to her right for assistance. “It’s ok, Mrs. Spellings,” said Edward Koh, the junior beside her. “This lab helps us learn to speak Spanish more fluently, and that actually makes learning a lot of fun.”
Spellings smiled a relaxed grin, then intently listened along with the other students. She later spoke with Campbell about the relevance of the high-tech approach to reinforce 21st Century Skills.

“For years, language teachers have been successful in teaching students to read and write in a foreign language, but not to hold fluent conversations,” explained Campbell, who is chairman of the language department at FHS. “The headsets are wired to the teacher console and docking station so as students practice their interactive communicative activities I can listen in and provide immediate feedback with the click of the mouse. The lab allows for communication between paired and grouped students without wasting valuable class time. I have seen a marked improvement in the students' fluency and willingness to speak in the target language.”

AVID Spellings then traveled to Eric Kinne’s freshman AVID class. A three decades-old program, AVID stands for Advancement through Individual Determination and targets students in the academic middle—B, C, and even D students—who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard. “In a nutshell, AVID helps students who are capable of completing rigorous curriculum but are falling short of their potential,” said Kinne. “Typically, they will be the first in their families to attend college, and many are from low-income or minority families. AVID pulls these students out of their unchallenging courses and puts them on the college track. Our focus is acceleration—not remediation.”

Kevin R, 15, said he doesn’t know what he’d have done without the AVID program. “My AVID teacher has also helped me realize that college is something I should shoot for,” explained the freshman who hopes to get a scholarship to Boston College. “I think one of the most important things is that I learned how to take notes, and that helps me better focus on what the teacher really wants me to learn and remember.”

Proper note taking is something few students seem to know how to do instinctively, Kinne admitted. “We teach our students the fundamentals of organization, and make sure they use one notebook instead of several binders. Inside it, they keep their pencil case filled with pens and highlighters, pencils and sharpeners, and most importantly use the Cornell Note-taking System to organize what they are learning.

State-funded, independent research, together with AVID’s own data, validate that the AVID college-readiness system works, Kinne adds. “Studies show that AVID students are more likely to take AP classes, complete their college eligibility requirements, and get into four-year colleges than students who don’t take AVID.”
Indeed, almost all AVID students who participate for at least three years are accepted to college, and roughly three quarters get into four-year colleges or universities. AVID also helps ensure students, once accepted to college, possess the higher-level skills they need for college success. (For more, visit www.avidonline.org.)

Bottom line The final stop on Spellings’ tour of Fairfax High was a meeting with two AVID students, teachers, Fairfax City and Fairfax County Public School officials to discuss the impact of the powerful AVID program.
Jim Nelson, the CEO in charge of the administration of the AVID program who accompanied Secretary Spellings on the FHS field trip, said he was very impressed with how well students are doing in Fairfax County.

“Doing well in life starts by doing well in school,” Nelson told the group of about three dozen people that had gathered for the last leg of the tour. “Ultimately, it’s about rigor. Our goal is to teach AVID students to master the academic program so they will be prepared to master all the challenges and opportunities they will face throughout the rest of their lives.”

Peter Noonan, FCPS Assistant Superintendent for the Department of Instructional Services, commented that the coursework offered in the AVID curriculum also helps close the achievement gap. “It has been my experience and observation that students in the AVID program feel incredibly engaged and supported,” Noonan said. “It’s a moment in time when they feel the school saying, ‘We are on your side. We are going to challenge you, but we are also going to do everything we can to support you.’ That’s very powerful and something we aspire to do for all of our students.”

Fairfax High Principal Scott Brabrand echoed Noonan’s belief, and added the AVID program also serves to hold the school and teachers accountable for results. “It’s one thing to have high expectations for all of our students, but to ensure they actually learn exactly what they need to get a job after high school or get into a two-year or four-year college is something we can measure. This program, along with other lessons and classes that teach 21st Century Skills, is the first step in making sure every student is successful.”

Secretary Spellings then turned to FHS guidance counselor Renee Service to find out how Fairfax High has engaged so many students and gotten them to participate in the AVID program. Service responded that she and the other guidance counselors do exactly what a good employer will do when these students graduate. “We have them sign a contract saying they agree to complete the course, and have them promise they’ll take at least one AP class,” she said. “In exchange, we make sure they know what to expect, and we hold an AP Boot Camp to prepare them for the rigorous classes we know they can handle. It’s a system that seems to works for everyone.”

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-12-30T16:36:00.001-08:00

On the Parent Diaries blog, I try to provide information that will help parents better help their children succeed in school — without going insane.

To that end, I recently came across this fabulous poem posted on the MySpace page of my daughter's friend, Olivia. It's a poem that has been traveling around the Internet, written by an unknown source, it seems.

I found it wonderful and poignant that Olivia chose to post it because despite the antics of middle school (don't get me started), it's refreshing to see that this gorgeous 8th grader and her "best friends" in the photo realize that they are growing up too fast.

So here's to you, Olivia! Keep swinging at the playground, opt for licorice cigs, and fearlessly wear skirts (just pick ones that aren't too short). All the mommies and daddies out there are rooting for you and your BFFs to hold on to the joy and innocence of childhood for as long as possible. With love.

I remember when getting high meant swinging at the playgrounds.
The worst thing your could get from boys were cooties.
Your worst enemies were your siblings.
The only drug you knew of was cough medicine.
Wearing a skirt didn’t mean you were a slut.
The only thing you smoked was licorice.
The only thing that could hurt was skinned knees.
The only things that could break were your toys.
Life was so simple and carefree.
But what I remember the most was wanting to grow up.
And now that I think about it,
All I really want to do is go back.

Entry by Hope Katz Gibbs, Inkandescent Public Relations.

Do Your Giving While You Are Still Living: Edie Fraser and Robyn Spizman Reach Out

2008-12-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

I love the title of this new book by Washington, DC activist / philanthropist Edie Fraser and TV journalist Robyn Spizman. Not only is it a great message to send our kids, it’s a message that parents need to hear — especially in this time of economic uncertainty when more people are hoarding what they have, out of fear for the future.

“We believe the most important word in our vocabulary is love,” the authors write in the introduction. “We’re talking about the kind of love that opens our hearts to others and expects nothing in return. It inspires us to do kind and caring things even when no one is watching.”

It is that belief that inspired these two truly amazing women to give 66 leaders of some of the country’s most influential nonprofit organizations the opportunity to talk about the benefits of giving.

They include some well-known personalities such as the executive director of the Oprah Winfrey Foundations Caren Yanis, renowned musician and philanthropist Dionne Warwick, and chairman of the National Council of Negro Women Dr. Dorothy Height.

Other chapters are written by the heads of some lesser-known nonprofit organizations, such as the Gail Heyman of the National Fragile X Foundation and Terry Baugh of the DC-based organization Kidsave.

On page 204 Baugh’s partner and co-founder Randi Thompson writes: “When you ask someone if they can help the 33 million kids in the world living without families, they can’t imagine what they can do. But when you talk about the possibility of reaching out to one orphan or foster child, it’s a very different story.”

That idea captures the essence of this 289-page book, which strives to teach and encourage everyone to open their hearts and give what they can.

In fact, the book’s publisher David Hancock of Morgan James Publishing has made a commitment to donate a percentage of book sales each month to one of his favorite organizations, Habitat for Humanity.

“Habitat for Humanity is changing lives,” Hancock writes in the book. “Working in partnership with low-income families to build decent homes they can afford to buy, Habitat helps to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. So we place its logo on the back and inside of our books and give a small library of books to the new homeowners. In addition to generating funds, we are raising awareness of Habitat’s critically important work.”

The authors hope more companies reach out in similarly profound ways.

“Whether in your community or around the world, choose one or more actions that make a difference,” says co-author Spizman, one of the country’s leading gift experts who is often featured on NBCs The Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, and The Discovery Channel, among others. “Continue to search for meaningful ways to connect to causes that matter. Consider what you can do and inspire yourself and others as giving of our time, talents and treasures has never been more critical."

To buy the book, visit: www.doyourgiving.com.

The Best of Both Worlds: Making the holidays happy in a house with two religions

2008-12-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

When it comes to celebrating the holidays, my husband Michael and I have always said the more the merrier. He grew up Catholic. I grew up Jewish. And neither of us is willing to forego the teachings of our past. So we celebrate Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Easter, Passover, Channukah and Christmas!

And when I saw a query from reporter Lynn Martin looking for families that celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas, I had to respond. Lynn and I hit it off, spent some time talking, and did a photo shoot with DC photographer Steve Barrett for the magazine where the article was to run. (See image, right. Yes, we put up a Christmas tree in October. Thank you Kevin and Karen Carroll for lending us your faux evergreen!)

Alas, as it happens sometimes in big-time publications, our segment was cut from the article. But Lynn was kind enough to share what she wrote so I could post it on The Parent Diaries. (I'll admit my kids were really disappointed — me, too — but this is stuff of the real world and I figure it's good to learn the power of resiliency sooner than later!)

Following is what Lynn wrote about our attempt to "Make the best of both worlds."

Journalist Hope Katz Gibbs, 44, a veteran of Hebrew school and her husband Michael Gibbs, 54, an illustrator and former Catholic school altar boy, make sure that their shared traditions provide plenty of glow—from the candles on the menorah to the Christmas lights that bedeck their suburban Virginia home. If you want to know how well they’ve meshed their two cultures, look no further than their tree—adorned with popsicle-stick ornaments in the shape of Jewish stars.

“We’re trying to teach our children to be good, moral people,” says Hope Katz Gibbs, explaining that Anna 13, and Dylan, 9, are learning about both religions and reap the benefits of two celebrations. On Chanukah, the family lights candles, says prayers in Hebrew and enjoys a dinner that includes matzoh ball soup made from Hope’s grandmother’s recipe (the secret’s in the fresh dill and parsley seasoning.)

On Christmas, “We do the tree, the lights, and the whole Santa routine,” says husband Mike, adding that it’s one of his favorite times of year. On each occasion, they take a few, important minutes, to re-tell the story of the holiday. Hope’s mom Bobbi Katz often comes to Christmas dinner, Mike’s parents, to Chanukah. “It’s all about sharing,” says Hope. Still there are parts of the other’s celebration that neither partakes of. “I still don’t eat the Christmas ham and Mike doesn’t like gefitle fish,” she laughs.

Chanukah lasts for eight nights, and when Hope was a girl, she got small presents— a book, maybe a fuzzy pair of socks. “Mike likes to have a Christmas bonanza, and for a little while there, I felt competitive, I didn’t want the kids to think that Chanukah was a lesser holiday because they got a DVD instead of a bike.”

In the last few years they’ve cut back on presents and this year the clan is creating a new tradition: They’re going to volunteer to serve a meal at a soup kitchen or make sandwiches for the homeless. Like so many other Americans, the Gibbs’ are getting back to basics. “It’s important to remember,” says Hope, “what the holidays are really about.”

One last thing: The night before Thanksgiving, Mike and I found a spot to make food for the homeless at the DC Jewish Community Center's "Everything but the turkey" fundraiser. Along with more than 200 other families we helped prepare a holiday feast. Our job: Make pounds and pounds of what they called "kicking coleslaw," and they weren't kidding! We made 100 pounds in 2 hours — and boy was it a blast. We'll be volunteering to prepare food again at Christmas time.

The other charity we're volunteering for in 2009 is Habitat for Humanities' Women Who Build. We're looking for donations of only $5000 by March 15 and volunteers to help us do a one-day build. If you'd like to join, sign up on the website!

The Power of Staying Positive: We're Profiled by The Mom Entrepreneur and Working Mother

2008-11-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

In addition to blogging and working as a freelance journalist, I am also the owner of Inkandescent Public Relations — a PR firm I officially launched this fall.

I left a good-paying part-time job as the leader of corporate communication for a global futurist firm to embark on this new venture, and although I had an inkling that the economy was faltering (I worked for futurists for two years, after all) I hoped for the best and took the plunge. So when our financial institutions tanked and the recession firmly took hold, I continued to stick to my plan and hope for the best.

How could I not when that's what I always tell my kids to do!

Then in October, while surfing through the hundreds of reporter queries that I daily field for my PR clients, I saw a request for stories for a column called "Lemons to Lemonade" to be posted on a terrific new blog called The Mom Entrepreneur. I responded, and the blog founder Traci Bisson and I began a wonderful conversation that became her Lemons to Lemonade Feature Number 8, which went live this week. (See my comments below.)

As a lovely bonus, Working Mother magazine picked up the story and also posted it on their website saying:

Hope Katz Gibbs, a freelance writer and journalist since 1993, recently left her job as a PR director for a futurist research firm to start Inkandescent Public Relations. She had decided to make this move long before the financial world came crashing down. She admits that the downturn has impacted her clients who currently include seven entrepreneurs who work in a variety of industries. But this mother of two is staying positive and moving ahead with an upbeat attitude and fresh ideas. Here's her story ...

How has this economy affected you, your business and your family? I picked a great time to start a business, didn’t I? Fortunately, my PR firm focuses on small businesses, mostly women-owned, and at this moment we are all feeling slightly recession proof (knock on wood). The reason, we stick to our knitting, so to speak, and because we all are sole proprietors — or have only a few employees — we aren’t suffering the way bigger businesses are struggling to get credit or meet payroll. I believe my clients are pretty savvy, and they realize that to keep their businesses growing they need to keep moving forward with their visibility efforts.

How are you making lemonade from lemons? I am taking my own advice and staying visible, launching my official website this month. In 2009, I plan to roll out a publishing company. And I’m trying to stay very positive. In high school they called me “Happy Hope”, so my reputation has been that I have a good attitude. It has kept me going through the ups and downs of life. You never know what is around the next bend, so keep moving forward – with a smile, a good laugh, great friends, and a full glass of good chardonnay.

Some of the outreach efforts I am doing on my client's behalf include:
• Improving their websites.
• Reaching out to reporters with excellent story ideas.
• Helping them develop new products (such as books) that build credibility and can eventually get them on the speaker circuit.

Any encouraging words you would like to offer mom entrepreneurs? Having been a reporter for 25 years, I know from the hundreds of articles that I’ve written that nothing ever stays the same — for any person or any company. (The recent fall of the banking / financial industry painfully proves that point.)

At 44, I look back and think of hours I wasted pouting and worrying. The hard times, I realize now, were truly stepping stones that moved me along my path. Even though some of those times were truly the pits (like getting left at the altar in 1991), they made me stronger and showed me that I could count on myself. That has been the most precious gift.

Now, instead of fretting, I choose to work hard, surround myself only with people that I truly like, and simply enjoy the ride. Money is great, but like my dad always said, “Money is round, it rolls away and it rolls back.” Knowing that perennial truth makes it easier to deal with the stinky times.

ARE YOU A MOM ENTREPRENEUR?

Join Traci Bison's group:www.themomentrepreneur.blogspot.com.

And look for a profile about Mom Entrepreneur Traci Bison next week on my other blog http://theparentdiaries.blogspot.com.

Don’t Bother Me Mom, I’m Learning

2008-11-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

Author / educator Marc Prensky’s book begins with a warning: “You are about to hear a message that, while absolutely true, will fly in the face of prevailing wisdom about computer and video games: Computer and video games aren’t as bad as you think they are. In fact, there’s good reason to believe that they do a tremendous amount of good.”

And so it goes in Don’t Bother Me Mom — I’m Learning, a 254-page paperback published by Paragon House that outlines why, and how, the technology provided in games is actually helping prepare children for the jobs and work they’ll do as participants in the 21st century workforce.

In chapters that include, Economics and Business Lessons for a 10-year-old from a Computer Game, and Video games are our kids’ first ethics lesson, Prensky convincingly argues why it’s a good idea to let children have access to such titles as The Sims, Harvest Moon, and Zoo Tycoon.

James Paul Gee agrees. The Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading at the University of Wisconsin-Madison wrote the book’s foreword, and insists, “Marc knows the power of good video games. He knows the power of the technologies behind them. He knows their potential for social revolution and what gives them their great potential for good. Most importantly, Marc knows that game designers have learned to harness deep and powerful learning — learning in the sense of problem solving, decision making, hypothesizing, and strategizing — as a form of fun, pleasure, engagement, even flow.”

How does this happen? Prensky explains in Chapter 4: “Our kids are not like us: They’re natives, we’re immigrants.”

“Today’s students—kindergarten through college—are the first generation to grow up with this new, digital, technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, DVD players, videocams, eBay, cell phones, iPods, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age. As with all immigrants, some of us have adapted to our new digital environment more quickly than others. But no matter how fluent we may become, all digital immigrants retain, to some degree, our ‘accent.”

Do they really think differently? Well, yes and no, says Prensky. “We hear parents and teachers complain so often about the Digital Natives’ attention spans that the phrase ‘the attention of a gnat” has become a cliche.”

But, he points out that kids’ attention spans are not short for everything — like games, music, or anything else that actually interests them. Why? It’s the result of years of experience with digital objects they simply crave interactivity and expect and immediate response to their each and every action.

“Unfortunately, traditional schooling provides very little of this,” he insists. “It isn’t that digital natives can’t pay attention; it’s often that they choose not to. Interestingly enough, they don’t have to succeed, at least not all the time.”

What have we lost? Assuming that Prensky is right about the reprogramming of the digital native’s brain, he concedes the one area that appears at first to have been affected is their inability to reflect. “In our twitch-speed world, there seems to many to be less and less time and opportunity for reflection, and this concerns many people,” Prensky writes — adding, however, that on closser inspection reflection actually may be going on beneath the surface.

“In observing digital natives, I have come to see that reflection, like so much else in their world, is something that is simply happening faster,” he suggests. “Whenever a player loses in a computer game and has to start over, their mind races to the move that got them to that point and they ask themselves, ‘What did I do wrong?’ and ‘What am I going to do differently next time.’ This is reflection at its most effective, although it is rarely if ever verbalized or made conscious.”

32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny

2008-11-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

With the excitement surrounding Barack Obama finally settling down, I started thinking about what it is that makes him such an inspirational leader. The obvious comes to mind: He's calm and clear, profoundly reasonable, and a great storyteller who can whoop up a crowd and leave them feeling better for just having listened to him. My kids, 13 and 9, have also touched by his power — and have had the incredible experience of being part of the political process.

In a nutshell, Obama is just the kind of teacher every kid — and adult — wishes they had in school.

All this noodling reminded me of "32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny," a magical book about the big heart and impact 3rd grade teacher Phil Done has had on his students. I remember sitting in bed reading through the 288-pager, and the tale was so engaging I'd be rolling on the floor in hysterics – or so touched that a tear will suddenly appear. The book that was that darn good.

“After my first week of teaching, I knew I had to write this book,” Done explains from his home in Northern California. “But after a day of working as a third grade teacher, I had absolutely no creativity left in me. So for years the book just lived in my head.”

Then about two years ago, Done had the opportunity to teach in Eastern Europe. He learned something interesting while abroad: He didn’t have to teach his class alone. While one of the other teachers was working with the students, Done found time to write.

By 2004, the book was finished and after several attempts he finally found an agent who believed in his project. She took it to a publisher – and after a bidding war that was won my Simon & Schuster, “32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny” made its way to print.

The book hit stores in August, made the back page of the highly popular “Real Simple” magazine that month, and has only received accolades from critics, readers, and even some of his old students.

“The publisher suggested I put my web address in the back of the book, and although I didn’t think that anyone would contact me I’m thrilled to find that every day I get emails from teachers, parents and the kids I used to teach,” shares Done (click here: www.phillipdone.com). “They are all so excited about the book, and they all say the book has touched them. This experience has been wonderful, but I’ll be ready to go back to the classroom next year. I miss my kids.”

Following is an expert from the introduction of Phillip Done’s “32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny.” Enjoy!

I Am a Teacher

I read Charlotte’s Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory every year, and every year when Charlie finds the golden ticket and Charlotte dies, I cry.

I take slivers out of fingers and bad sports out of steal the bacon. I know when a child has gum in his mouth even when he is not chewing. I have sung “Happy Birthday” 657 times.

I hand over scissors with the handles up. My copies of “Velveteen Rabbit” and “Treasure Island” are falling apart. I can listen to one child talk about his birthday party and another talk about her sleepover and another talk about getting his stomach pumped last night – all at the same time.

I fix staplers that won’t staple and zippers that won’t zip, and I poke pins in the orange caps of glue bottles that will not pour. I hand out papers and pencils and stickers and envelopes for newly pulled teeth. I know the difference between Austria and Australia.

I plan lessons while shaving, showering, driving, eating, and sleeping. I plan lessons five minutes before the bell rings. I know what time it is when the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the nine. I say the r in library. I do not say the w in sword.

I put on Band-Aids and winter coats and school plays. I know they will not understand the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re.’ I know they will write ‘to’ when it should be ‘too.’ I say “Cover your mouth,” after they have coughed on me.

I know when a child does not understand. I know when a child is not telling the truth. I know when a child was up too late last night. I knew when a child needs help finding a friend.

I am a teacher.

The Principal Factor: Nardos King

2008-10-31T06:47:00.000-07:00

When it comes to how you feel about your kids' teachers, many parents have a "hope for the best" attitude. We all assume the teacher will be top-notch, highly educated and personable — and really want the best for our children. But what most educators know is that it is the principal who makes or breaks a school. They are the ones who hire the teachers, set the tone and attitude for the year, and ultimately determine the experience that the children — and the parents — will have when they walk into that building.

"Principals are the key to a school's success," says former City of Fairfax Schools Superintendent George Stepp, a man who spent more than 30 years as a teacher, principal and administrator. "If you have a bad principal, you don't have to look too far before you realize everything about the school isn't flowing right. But a good principal, well, that's the best case scenario. And you can spot a winner by simply looking at the faces of the kids. Are they happy, engaged, and succeeding in the core subjects? Are the teachers energetic, excited about their jobs and in their classrooms early each day? If so, you've got a hit on your hands."

One woman who gets kudos from Stepp is Nardos King, the principal of Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria VA. Earlier this year, she took home one of the most prestigious FCPS honors: the 2008 Outstanding First-Year Principal Award. It's one of many awards that adorn her bookshelf, and upon examination it's easy to see why.

Praised for her ability to motivate students, she set several goals when she became principal. The first was to have Mount Vernon become a positive focal point in the community. She also wanted to reach out to Hispanic parents who were underrepresented at the school. And King was determined to improve instruction — and find a way to forge relationships among students and staff members. So she met with community members and parents and challenged them to become ambassadors for the school. Then she reached out to Hispanic parents, with the help of a neighborhood church, and ultimately established Hispanic Parent Council.

She also adjusted the bell schedule to facilitate student enrichment, mediation, and mentoring — and carved out a special 30-minute class period during which all students and teachers read silently. Students can also use part of the period to consult teachers for extra help, make up tests, or complete assignments.

Where no educator has gone before?

Then last year she did what few other educators might be willing to do: She promised to cut her hair into a Mohawk if students raised their SOL scores to 80% or higher in each of the four core areas. Not only did they accomplish that, but 28 students in the class of 2007 earned the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma—the highest number in the school’s history. Last November 20, King headed to the hairdresser to make good on her promise.

“I have a passion for finding ways to address and close the achievement gap between white and minority students,” says King, who grew up in Mount Holly, NJ. “My mom is from Ethiopia and my father is American, so I had a taste of what it meant to merge two cultures when I was a child.”

She deepened that understanding after graduating from Virginia University where she got a degree in Business Information Systems in 1986. Her husband — as a second lieutenant in the US Army — whisked her off to Germany soon after the wedding. King wanted to get her teaching degree, but worked as a substitute teacher and a bank teller instead.

In 1990, the couple moved again to Lawton, Oklahoma. “My dream to teach was still there but I had a baby and no time to go back to school,” she explains. “I was hired by the school system to be an instructional assistant, but the position ended after a year and I was transferred to a library assistant position in another school. I enjoyed that position, too, but soon after was transferred to a local high schools to become the finance secretary.”

When there’s a will there’s a way

In 1995, when her husband was transferred back to the Washington, DC area, King wasn't going to let anything keep her from finding work in the classroom. First, she found a job as the secretary to an elementary school principal. Six months later she was hired at Mount Vernon to be the school's finance officer.

“As luck would have it, the principal told me about a program at George Washington University which allowed me to get my Master's in Special Education,” she shares. “I entered the program and left my finance position to take an Instructional Assistant in the Special Education Department at Mount Vernon. After a year of school, I was eligible to teach on a provisional license and was hired to teach at Mount Vernon, where I taught math to the special education students for the next four years.”

King worked her way up the system, eventually becoming a sub-school Principal at Mount Vernon. In the summer of 2006, she landed her dream job. The awards that have come since — and there are several of them — are wonderful, King says, but what is most important to her is helping at-risk kids.

“Four adult volunteers, and myself are currently working with a group of students in a program we call the 30/30 club,” she explains. “Prior to entering the program, these students were all low performing and unmotivated, but we have been successful in getting the majority of them to turn around their grades, behavior and attendance ion school. I strongly believe that building relationships with at risk students in key to the success of the program.”

King is determined to continue to be a positive role model in the years to come. She is currently studying for her PhD in Education Leadership and Policy at Virginia Tech, and hopes to one day become Assistant Superintendent — and then Superintendent — of a large school district.

“I know that if I am truly running the show, I can make a difference on hundreds of thousands of children’s lives,” she says.

We’ll let you know when King lands that job.

To learn more about the work Nardos King is doing at her high school, visit http://www.fcps.edu/MtVernonHS.

HR expert Alice Waagen offers tips for Gen Y

2008-10-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

I don’t know of a parent today who isn’t worried about how their children are going to fare in the future. Our young adults who have already entered the workforce are reportedly struggling to find their place — and evidence suggests that employers are struggling right alongside them.

Fortunately, Alice Waagen, PhD, president of the executive Workforce Learning, has some advice.

The founder of the leadership development company that since 1997 has provided managers and C-level executives with the skills and knowledge they need to build a more productive work environment, recently offered some tips to Washington Examiner reporter Heather Huhman on how to help Gen Y transition from the classroom to the workplace.

“A JobFox poll found Gen Y workers are perceived by recruiters as being the weakest performers among the four generations that now make up the U.S. workforce," Huhman wrote. “ What can you do to make the transition seamless and foster success?”

Waagen suggests:

Dress to impress. “Pay no attention to published corporate dress codes. Dress to the level that you aspire. Don’t wear jeans just because your fellow entry-level workers wear jeans. What does your boss wear? Match your attire to one level up the ladder.”

Listen, listen and listen. “Keep a mental monitor on all interactions and make sure that you are speaking no more than 50 percent of the time. Use electronics only when you can’t talk face to face.”

Avoid office politics.“Find a mentor, someone who is considered successful in the organization that can guide you in navigating the political waters.”

Don’t loose your outward focus. “Build and maintain a professional network outside of your organization. This network will help you know when and how to move on. Have a plan – where do you want to be in three, five and 10 years? Work your personal and professional development toward those goals.”

Build and keep a budget. “Don’t get trapped in a job you hate because you can’t afford to quit and move on.”
Get enough sleep. “You need to be alert and functioning every day for at least eight hours. You can’t do that consistently on three hours of sleep. Tardiness and absenteeism are sure career killers.”

Ultimately, Waagen is concerned about how young workers will fare in the future.

“Research shows that the single reason most organizations fail to thrive is a lack of strong people skills among those at the top,” Waagen says. “We work to ensure organizations are healthy from the top down, and ultimately if an organization has happy, energized, effective employees they find it reflected in the bottom line.”

But if Gen Y doesn’t “get with the program,” what will our workforce look like a decade from now? Waagen plans to offer more thoughts on that in her November-December newsletter, Workforce Learning, due out in a few weeks.

Log onto www.workforcelearning.com for details.

The Importance of Learning Chinese

2008-10-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

First graders in Grace Yuan’s Chinese class at Providence Elementary in Fairfax County, VA aren’t shy about showing off what they’ve learned since the start of the year. The 6-year-olds are all eager to come to the front of the class to recite their names in Chinese, the days of the week, numbers from 1-31, months of the year, the four seasons, and some basic greetings.

“I couldn’t be more impressed,” beams Providence’s Principal Joy Hanbury. “To say these students are picking up Chinese with great ease and enthusiasm is an understatement. I can’t wait to see what they’ll know by the end of the year.”

She credits the 1st graders’ success to the high-energy and creativity of Yuan, who has also helped Fairfax County Public Schools develop the curriculum for the Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) Chinese program that is being integrated into the 1st grade curriculum at Providence this year.

These students will continue with the program next year when they become 2nd graders—and the new 1st grader class will begin learning Chinese. Within six years, all 1st through 6th grade students at Providence will be studying the language.

“This is very exciting,” shares Hanbury, who was eager to integrate the Chinese FLES program into the curriculum this year. “We have had the Latin program at Providence for several years and the students have benefitted tremendously from learning a second language.”

Plus, she says, by learning Chinese her students will have an increased global awareness of their school community, country, and world. “By exposing children to this challenging level 4 language early on, the students will more easily recognize difficult tonal sounds,” Hanbury explains. “Plus, this experience will enable them to understand the basic conventions of other languages.”

Why learn Chinese?

China is the world’s fourth largest economy, and continues to grow by about 9.5% a year. It is a top recipient of foreign investment—one that has become a top trading partner with the U.S. Add to that the fact that Mandarin Chinese, the language being taught at Providence and also Fairfax High (see sidebar on page 3) is the most widely spoken language in the world.
Approximately 867 million people speak Mandarin, and a total of 1.1 billion people speak other dialects of Chinese, according to Language Today. An article entitled “The 10 Most Influential Languages,” indicates English is spoken by 330 million people worldwide—followed by Spanish (300 million), Hindi/Urdu (250 million), and Arabic (200 million).

Already, most major U.S. universities are offering Chinese classes, and increasingly students from kindergarten to 12th grade are also being given the opportunity to learn Mandarin.
The reason, according to many business leaders, is that the philosophy has changed regarding how to conduct business abroad.

“When you do business with or go to other countries, be prepared to work on their terms,” says Robert Davis, who taught in China before returning to Chicago where he started a comprehensive language program. Today, about 3,500 students K-12 in southwest Chicago Public School system are learning Mandarin.

And consider this: Last year, the British Council (the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities) conducted a research study—entitled “English Next”—that concluded the lack of students fluent in a foreign language in both Britain and the U.S. will eventually weaken the competitiveness of both countries.

The report offered dozens of reasons why students in both countries should be learning Chinese—reasons echoed by Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia Society in New York.

“In an age where security, competitiveness and democratic leadership depend on constructive engagement, our nation must take urgent action so that our international knowledge and language expertise is second to none,” Levine insists. “The question is when, not whether, schools are going to adjust.”

Levine recently told The Christian Science Monitor: “One doesn’t need to be proficient in Chinese languages to do business in China. But the exposure and motivation to show that one understands and respects the Chinese culture is really half the battle won.”

Rising to the challenge

Exposing students to this important culture is the reason Providence’s Hanbury began considering the opportunity to integrate Chinese into her school’s curriculum about two years ago. Fairfax High’s Principal Scott Brabrand also saw the benefits of incorporating a program into the Fairfax Academy offerings.

Both principals had full support from the City School Board. “This is a very forward-looking program,” says School Board Chairman Janice Miller. “We are thrilled that Joy and Scott took the lead and are now able to offer it to our students.”

City of Fairfax Schools Superintendent Ann Monday agrees. “Chinese provides an opportunity for our students to learn a language that is quickly becoming dominant in the world economy,” Monday says. “It also provides students a chance to learn about a culture very different from their own.”

Of course, none of this could be possible without the support of the Fairfax County Public Schools.
“We are moving away from a model that provides instruction late in a student's educational career to one that incorporates language early,” says Peter Noonan, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction for FCPS. “This will, in the end, provide a level of communicative competence that even our current, highest level students, often do not meet. This model incorporates all we know is best about language acquisition.”

Leading the charge, Noonan says, is FCPS Foreign Language Coordinator Paula Patrick. “To help us expand our foreign languages offerings, FCPS was awarded a grant of $621,000 dollars from a federal Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant to be spent over a three year period to address critical needs languages of Chinese and Arabic to ensure the students are even better prepared to understand the people who will help define the 21st century,” she explains.

The grant ends on Sept. 15, 2009, but Patrick says she is confident FCPS will continue to offer Chinese in the City Schools. “I am especially pleased that the Chinese program at FHS—which is open to all FCPS students at the Academy level—also includes partnerships with schools in China and with Georgetown University. It is great to see the entire pyramid working together to provide a quality foreign language program for the students of Fairfax City.”

Moving forward

Patrick says one of her goals is to extend language opportunities to students and parents through the use of technology.
“Ms. Yuan makes lessons available to her elementary students and parents through her Blackboard site, and Alaric Radosh extends his classroom instruction of Chinese through the use of MP3 players and other types of technology.”

Patrick is also in the process of developing a Chinese program in the Fairfax pyramid to provide students with a comprehensive language program of study they can continue into college. “We are planning to partner with Georgetown and George Mason University for student mentoring, seminars, guest speakers, and summer language camps and workshops,” says Patrick. Her ultimate goal, she says, is to have all students learn at least one foreign language—if not two or three—by the time they graduate from high school.

Mastering Chinese may lead students to these jobs:
Intelligence operations
International business / international relations
IT and computer technology
National and international security
Travel industry expert
Translator

Safe Young Drivers

2008-10-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Driving on highways and winding back roads is scary enough when an experienced driver is behind the wheel — but when teens start driving, there's an increased cause for concern. Reports of teens dying behind the wheel seem to dominate the news. That’s why Phil Berardelli’s book, "Safe Young Drivers: A Guide for Parents and Teens," is an essential read for every parent.

The Fairfax County, VA dad, former teacher and journalist originally penned the 176-page paperback in 1996. In its fourth edition, it has sold thousands of copies — and still, he says, each year far too many teens die or are harmed due to unsafe driving. In fact, he was inspired to write the book 10 years ago after an area crash killed three teens and disabled another.

"Those kids reminded me of my own two girls, who I had taught how to drive a few years before. The tragedy launched me on this course of urging parents to protect their teen drivers," says the journalist, who immediately crafted an article on the topic for The Washington Post. The piece generated so much fan mail that an editor at the Post encouraged Berardelli to turn it into a guidebook. He did, making sure his message was effective.

He designed the book with a spiral binding to sit in the lap of a parent sitting in the passenger seat. Half of the text is directed at parents; the other half talks to student drivers. Teens, however, may have a little trouble with his basic premise.

"I insist parents keep their kids from driving alone until they are 17," he says.

Why? Statistics. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 16-year-olds are up to 12 times more likely to die in a fatal crash than any other age group. They also are less likely to wear seat belts and more likely to speed and take unnecessary risks.

“Sixteen is by far the most dangerous age on the road,” he says. “In fact, a 16-year-old is 12 times more likely than older drivers to die in a crash as a single occupant. Put two young teens in a vehicle, and the odds of death and injury nearly double. Three or four unsupervised teens riding together constitute a recipe for disaster.”
Despite these sobering facts, he insists that the procedure for obtaining a drivers license in most states remains minimal.
“Some states don’t even require a learner’s permit,” he shares. “Some allow the permit to be obtained before age 16. Although some states have installed graduated licensing, with sensible restrictions for the youngest drivers, many still impose only the most minimal requirements.”

Plus, Berardelli notes that only a small number of high schools operate relatively comprehensive programs that require parental involvement.

“Most have cut back driver ed. classes to the point where they can accommodate only a small portion of students,” he says. “Even the lucky ones receive only a few hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. Commercial driving schools, even the most competent and conscientious among them, cannot possibly provide complete instruction.”

Safe Young Drivers is intended for parents and teens to use together. Each new lesson addresses parental issues such as "How do I choose a car for my teen?" and provides teens with simple instruction and important tips to remember.

Berardelli admits that parents who keep their teens from venturing out on the road alone may not be the most popular person that kid’s life: "But that's not what's most important. You've spent years raising your kid, driving to countless sports practices and music lessons. Why suddenly grow impatient at the most important and potentially dangerous time of their young lives?"

The book is available at http://www.safeyoungdrivers.com.

Nature vs. Nurture: A Dad's Debate

2008-09-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

By Michael Gibbs
An Illustrator and Dad

The floor of my son's room is an almost comical testament to the life of a typical nine year old boy.

A baseball glove. Drumsticks. A Game Boy. Stuffed animals. His stash of coins. A week's worth of clothes. A Captain Underpants book. A book on scientists. Gizmos made of disassembled old toys. Stacks of his drawings, next to a toolbox filled with crayons and markers.

Two of those things stand out, for not so obvious reasons; the baseball glove and the toolbox of crayons and markers. He's very good at throwing a ball, and he's very good at creative thinking and drawing. Yet those two things also represent opposite extremes of social behavior: team sports, and solitary expression of self.

One of my jobs as father is to figure out where he's going to go in life, and help him sort things out and get there. Those symbols of wide-ranging boyhood interests littering his room will slowly get whittled down, in some cases replaced by other things, but eventually he'll choose from among them and become the man he's going to be.

Once, I had a similar collection of stuff as I went through a similar voyage of self discovery. Today, I still have my baseball glove — well-worn and containing years of memories snagged out of mid-air — but for years now, it's been catching nothing but dust. It's a metaphor for the path I chose; a path that led not to teamwork, but to the relatively solitary life of a freelance illustrator.

Illustration is a career that results in — if not calls for — solitude. Not that I'm a loner — before my freelance career, I worked in graphics departments and loved the camaraderie and close friendships I made. But I never liked collaborating. In some ways, I guess I disliked the word TEAM because there was no "I" in it. That missing "I" is not a pronoun. Rather, it stands for individualism.

That individualism came from somewhere, likely in the genes as much as something instilled, perhaps unintentionally, by my parents. As a kid, I was more interested in things like electronics kits and chemistry sets and model rockets than getting pounded into the turf in Pee Wee football. Despite the occasional smoke filled basement from an ad-libbed chemistry experiment gone awry, my folks seemed to encourage my more cerebral pursuits, and they never pushed me into team sports — in fact, it was never even suggested. Looking back, I've often lamented that decision by my parents — I loved playing pickup baseball games as a kid, and later ran track in high school — but at the same time, I wonder if it unwittingly led me into the arts, something for which I'm profoundly grateful. I found my own interests, and gravitated toward art — mostly, photography; decidedly individualistic, solitary, and not a team sport. By my teens, I had decided individualism was something to strive for, perhaps as much a desire to create something unique in life as a dread of individualism’s counterpart, a meaningless march through time as a busybody.

Some of the benefits often cited by those who encourage youth sports are cooperating with others, working with others toward a common goal, and working with people you don't like or respect. [1] [2] But in many ways, these attributes run counter to the individualism and introspection that tend to spark creativity and the unique point of view that defines successful illustrators. In art, groupthink can lead to compromise, and compromise doesn't generally lead to memorable art.

In steering clear (or being steered clear) of team sports, I went in the opposite direction, becoming a bit of a "loner," although I'd point out that, contrary to popular belief, not all loners are creepy lurkers with a pathological fear of social contact. As Jonathan Cheek, a psychologist at Wellesley College points out, "Some people simply have a low need for affiliation. There's a big difference between the loner-by-preference and the enforced loner." [3]

I simply had a preference, at times, to travel through my own interior universe. And when I'm creating, I invariably withdraw into that interior universe, where all the good ideas are. It's part of the process. That’s not just a hunch; research by psychotherapist Elaine Aron shows that withdrawn people typically have very high sensory acuity. Because they are good at noticing subtleties that other people miss, Aron says, they are well-suited for careers that require close observation, like writing and scientific research. [3] And, I'd suggest, illustration.

So maybe my parents did me a favor, encouraging my more solitary hobbies and never mentioning sports.

I hadn't given this a lot of thought prior to that night I found myself sitting on my son's bed, tucking him in and musing over the choatic montage of his life he'd strewn about his room. Now, as I look back at the road I took — the very road my 9 year old son is now navigating — I wonder how, or if, things might have been different if I'd been introduced to Pee Wee football or Little League baseball when I was his age. Would I have been drawn to team sports, and analogously, teamwork? And conversely, did my complete lack of exposure to team sports lead to my embracing a life of relative solitude?

There's no way to know where the roads not taken might have led. I took the road that I took, with another's hand on the wheel for the early part of the trip, and become the person I am. And now I wonder who will my son become? How firmly do I grab the wheel, and when do I let go? He likes to draw. He likes to play ball. When I ask him if he wants to play organized sports, he's ambivalent — he could go either way, he says, and leaves it up to me. But as I draw on my own experience, I realize there may be more significance to that decision than meets the eye.

See what Michael grew up to do: www.michaelgibbs.com

References
[1] http://www.enotalone.com/article/5298.html
[2] http://ezinearticles.com/?Youth-Sports:-10-Benefits-Of-Participation&id=295977
[3] http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=20070320-000001&page=1

The Power to Fight Cancer

2008-09-05T05:25:00.001-07:00

BEFORE HE WAS diagnosed with brain cancer at age 31, Dr. David Servan-Schreiber could be found scarfing down a bowl of chili con carne on the elevator at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in between teaching classes and seeing patients.

"I'd sometimes add a bagel to the mix, and wash it all down with a can of Coke," admits Servan-Schreiber, the author of Anticancer: A New Way of Life, which hits bookstores in September. "It's a pretty scary mix to me now."

However, it took another bout with cancer seven years later, when he was 38, before the neuropsychiatrist could bring himself to slow down or change his habits. Although both times Servan-Schreiber—who co-founded the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, and was a founding member of Doctors Without Borders in the U. S.—fought his tumor with traditional methods such as chemotherapy, the second time around he also decided to learn everything he could to help his body defend itself against the illness.

"I felt then, as I feel know, that it is completely unreasonable to try to cure cancer without the best of conventional Western medicine," the French-born physician says. "But I also firmly believe that it is completely unreasonable to rely only on this purely technical approach and neglect the natural capacity of our bodies to protect
against tumors. We can take advantage of this natural protection to either prevent the disease or enhance the benefits of treatments.”

The reality is that cancer cells lie dormant in all of us, Servan-Schreiber explains. But with some simple changes, it is possible to keep those cells from becoming life-threatening tumors. "In the West, one person in four will die of cancer, but three in four will not," he says. "Their defense mechanisms will hold out. The trick is to keep the cells from developing into life-threatening tumors by turning on the body's cancer-fighting capacities."

He points out in his book—which is part personal account, part reader-friendly biology lesson—that some foods specifically prevent or inhibit cell growth by more than 80 percent in certain cancers, such as brain, colon, lung and prostate. These cancer-inhibiting foods include beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, garlic, kale, leeks and scallions.

Getting at least 20 to 30 minutes of exercise per day is also important, he adds, as is steering clear of household cleaning products that contain alkylphenols. He also advises avoiding deodorants and antiperspirants with aluminum, and not heating foods in plastic containers made with PVCS, polystyrene or Styrofoam.

He also recommends taking time every day to do a little yoga or tai chi—anything that will calm and center the body and mind. "It's all about being conscious of what you put into your body and what you surround yourself with—including friends who have a healthy outlook and work that makes you feel good," Servan-Schreiber believes, noting that stress is another thing to be mindful of. "Stress is something you can avoid, but how you deal with it is really the key," he says.

A typical day for him now includes 20 minutes of meditation upon rising, riding his bike around Pittsburgh—or Paris, his second home—and eating an apple with ginger and soy yogurt for breakfast. He also drinks green tea instead of coffee, has an 85-percent-cocoa dark chocolate treat in the afternoon and goes for a 20- to 30-minute jog at the end of the day to get his heart rate up and his thoughts together.

"I pay a lot of attention to what I dedicate my time to in my professional and in my personal life," he concludes. "It has taken some time, but I have learned to ride out more serenely the unavoidable stresses of life."

TO HELP STAVE OFF CANCER Dr. David Servan-Schreiber recommends taking the following steps.

AVOID SOME COMMON HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS:
• Percliloroethynene (tetracliloroethylene), is used in dry cleaning. It may be possible to find dry cleaners that don't use this. Air out dry-cleaned garments for several hours before wearing.
• Don't use cleaning products that contain alkylphenols.
• Don't use deodorants and antiperspirants with aluminum.
• Don't use cosmetics, shampoo, nail polish, etc., with estrogens or placental products, parabens or phthalates.
• Don't use household pesticides and insecticides.
• Don't heat foods or liquids in plastic containers made with PVCS, polystyrene or Styrofoam, and don't prepare food in scratched Teflon pans.

IMPROVE YOUR DIET:
• Eat grass-fed organic meat, milk, cheese yogurt and eggs.
• Reduce intake of sugar, white flour and products containing omega-6 fatty acids (sunflower oil, soybean oil, margarines, hydrogenated fats).
• Increase omega-3 intake (fish, grass- or linseed-fed animal products).
• Increase intake of anticancer products (turmeric, green tea, soy, fruits, vegetables),
• Filter tap water using a carbon filter or inverse osmosis, or drink mineral or spring water.

ADD ACTIVITY TO YOUR DAY:
• Perform 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity per day.
• Expose yourself to sunlight for 20 minutes each day (or take 1,000 IU of Vitamin D per day).
• Practice a method of relaxation and self-centering (yoga, meditation, or tai chi).

Hope Katz Gibbs originally wrote this article for the September 2008 issue of The Costco Connection. She is a freelance writer in northern Virginia, and has embraced the anticancer way of life—except for giving up coffee.

Live the creative life you want

2008-08-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

When she was a little girl, Elaina Loveland dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. The graceful waif of a woman was a dynamic dancer, but after attending the dance program at Goucher College to study for a few years, she realized the reality of her choice might not make for an ideal career.

“It became clear that I should have gone straight to New York City to dance instead of going to college to study it,” she admits. “I also realized that my dance career would probably only last as long as my body held out—and that seemed like a bit of a gamble.”

So she opted for Plan B and became a writer—and ever since hasn’t let anything get in her way. Elaina firmly believes anyone who wants to have a creative career can do it. All they need to do is plan, prepare, and be brave enough to take the leap.

In fact, before turning 30, she penned two books on a subject:

Creative Colleges: A guide for student actors, artists, dancers, musicians and writers,was published in 2005 when Loveland was 27. She followed it up in 2007 with a sequel entitled: Creative Careers: Paths for aspiring actors, artists, dancers, musicians and writers. Both softback trade books were published by SuperCollege LLC, and are chock full of how-to-get-where-you-want-to-go information.

Creative Careers: Paths for aspiring actors, artists, dancers, musicians, and writersoffers details about types of 200 arts-related college, including suggestions on how to evaluate them, sample resumes and curriculums, and inspiring / realistic profiles of people who are living the dream. And Creative Careers dives deeper into life in a variety of fields, offering real options other than the most obvious and glamorous.

Loveland’s takeaway: “Given all the pros and cons each profession, I’d still recommend a career in the arts to anyone who truly wants one,” she says, but warns that the key to success is a willingness to sacrifice and be flexible.

Take show business. “This is not a profession for the faint hearted, or someone who can’t deal with rejection,” Loveland advises, adding that those who dream of being fashion designers are also destined to spend years in the Big Apple, “unless, of course, you are willing to just open a little boutique in your hometown or maybe a favorite seaside town.”

“You have to really know yourself,” she explains. “Finding the right career—and career path—is truly a process of elimination. What I try to show in the book is that there are a lot of ways to accomplish the goal of having a career in the arts.”

And when it comes to helping parents deal with a child who wants a career in the arts, Loveland’s advice to is to simply be supportive.

“Parents should be open-minded if their kids are interested in pursuing a career in the arts,” she says. “While there are 'starving artist' stories, not all jobs in the arts are financially unstable. The arts aren't usually a path to riches but aspiring artists can find career fulfillment and financial stability if they explore many options in the arts and carve out a niche for themselves. Ultimately, that will help them achieve both professional and personal happiness.”

For more information visit: http://www.elainaloveland.com/creative_careers.htm

Bratproofing Your Children

2008-08-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

When college professors Janet and Lew Solomon were raising their son Michael, now 33, they were determined to teach him the value of money. On the morning of his 10th birthday, they got their chance. Young Michael came bounding down the steps and announced it would only be 6 more years until he could get a car. Lew (a lawyer who taught taxation and trusts and estates at George Washington University Law School), and Janet (a business school professor who specialized in human resources management) gave each other a sideways glance and sat Michael down for breakfast and a taste of reality.

“We didn’t want to burst his bubble—but we did want to set him on the right path for financial solvency,” Janet says today. “So we told him that we’d pay for the auto insurance on that car he was dreaming about, but that he’d be responsible for saving enough money to actually pay for the car.”

From that day forward Michael became the consummate saver. At last, on his 19th birthday, he had enough cash to buy a brand new Nissan Altima—a car he drove long after he’d made a career as a successful hedge fund manager and could have bought himself a finer ride. (When he finally did pass it along to a young man he was mentoring in the Big Brothers organization, it had more than 200,000 miles but Michael had taken such good care of it that the car was still in good working condition.)

Getting a financial grip

“To say we are proud of Michael is an understatement,” says Janet, who with Lew recently published a new book based their own experience and observations of other families in relationship to money. Entitled, Bratproofing Your Children: How to raise socially and financially responsible kids, the book is a guide to help parents get a grip on discipline and fiscal solvency.

“As a parent, you want your children to grow up to be productive, motivated, financially responsible adults,” Janet says. “But that is sometimes easier said than done. This book helps parents raise thriving kids who will grow up to become emotionally and financially mature adults by teaching them to stave off potentially negative influences of affluence from our consumer culture.”

Teaching your children well

The 200-page paperback—which is part common sense, part financial advisor, and part parenting coach—is divided into halves.

The first chunk provides insightful ideas and ideals from Janet, who offers advice on how to protect children from the potentially negative influences of wealth, including:
ß Imparting four personal character traits (high self esteem, joyfulness / optimism, serenity, hard work / thrift),
ß And three interpersonal character traits (loving kindness, forgiveness, integrity).
ß She also offers a handful of strategies to help parents successfully deal with outside influences.

The second half of the book, “How to protect your wealth from being destroyed by your children and grandchildren,” was penned by Lew and outlines some tough love financial strategies.

“Do not expect every one of your children to become a financial wizard,” Lew explains on page 85. “However, all family members need to be responsible for leaning basic financial concepts. Even if a child never develops much facility with finance, he or she should learn the big picture and feel comfortable raising questions and discussing financial matters with your (and later, their) advisors.”

Lew’ advice:
• Talk about money with your children
• Give allowances
• Have them set aside a portion of their allowance for charitable giving
• Don’t give them a credit card or ATM card
• Encourage and promote their entrepreneurial spirit (something that shows up naturally in most children between the ages of 10 and 12)

He also outlines how to better understand and communicate with an attorney, accountant, and financial planner, and how to use trusts to transfer wealth to you children and grandchildren. Additionally, he offers suggestions for handling family business succession.

Accomplishing your real goals

“Our goal in writing the book was to provide specific, practical strategies that parents can incorporate into their everyday parenting to help them raise financially fit youngsters,” Lew explains. “But the simple truth is that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent—or a perfect child.”

However, by using a little common sense and developing our instincts and expertise about spending and saving money, the authors believe they can teach all of us to raise a generation of financially savvy people.

Speaking for all the parents I know—we hope so, too.

Buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Bratproofing-Your-Children-Financially-Responsible/dp/1569803455

Obesity in Kids: What Parents Can Do

2008-08-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

"Nearly every single possible combination of the children's meals at KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A is too high in calories," according to Margo Wootan, Nutrition Policy Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who released a new report, "Kids Meals: Obesity on the Menu" on Aug. 4 at a press conference at the National Press Conference in Washington, DC.

Wootan explained that 93% of 1,474 possible choices at 13 top chains exceed 430 calories—an amount that is one-third of what the Institute of Medicine recommends that children aged 4 through 8 should consume in a day.

The problem, Wootan explains, is that kids are eating out more than ever and when they do they consume twice as many calories as when they eat a meal at home due to the extra saturated fat, less fiber and calcium in fast food meals vs. home-cooked ones.

Here are some other scary facts:

• Chili's has 700 possible kids' meal combinations, but 94% are too high in calories (including country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples and chocolate milk for 1020 calories; and cheese pizza, homestyle fries, and lemonade for 1000 calories).
• KFC has a variety of side items, but their "Laptop Meals," consisting of popcorn chicken, baked beans, a biscuit, Teddy Grahams, and fruit punch has 940 calories.
• Most of the kids' meals at McDonald's and Wendy's are also too high in calories, as are the those at Burger King (92%), Dairy Queen (89%), and Arby's (69%).

Subway's kids' meals came out on the top of the study, and only a third of its Fresh Fit for Kids meals, which include a mini-sub, juice box, and apple slices, raisins, or yogurt, exceed the 430-calorie threshold.

"People may not get a heart attack until their 50s or 60s, but arteries begin to clog in childhood," explains Wootan. "Most of the kids' meals appear to be designed to put America's children on the fast track to obesity, heart attack, or diabetes."

Recommendations:

• Wootan and the CSPI suggest that chain restaurants reformulate their existing menu items to reduce calories, saturated and trans fat, and salt.
• Chain restaurants should also reformulate their existing menu items and add healthy options like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• They should also provide nutrition information on menus and menu boards, as is required by menu labeling policies passed in New York City, San Francisco, and Portland.

For more information visit: www.cspinet.org/kidsmeals.

Brain researcher Patricia Wolfe on what babies really need to develop

2008-07-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Pat Wolfe is worried about your toddler.“I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about the growing number of parents who are concerned about getting their children into the best academic preschools to ensure they do well when they begin their formal schooling,” the leading brain researcher and author of "Brain Matters," tells The Parent Diaries. “Some are even signing their babies up before they are born. Given the research on early brain development, trying to create a ‘super baby’ or ‘super child’ doesn’t make sense. In fact, it runs counter to what we know about how a child’s brain develops.”

Here’s what Wolfe suggests:

1. Understand the science.

In the past decade, there has been an explosion of information in the field of brain research (neuroscience).

“No longer a mysterious black box as once was thought, researchers can actually see what is going on inside our skulls while we interact with our environment,” Wolfe explains, noting that contrary to an earlier belief that a baby’s brain was a blank state, scientists have discovered that learning begins before birth (babies are born recognizing their mother’s voice and music they heard while in the womb).

“We now know that young children learn faster than was ever thought possible,” she adds. “In fact, in the first three to four years the young child’s brain develops connections (synapses) between cells at an amazing rate, one that will never be duplicated again during the child’s life.”

Unfortunately, this information has been misinterpreted to mean babies and young children need extra stimulation during this critical period. “This is not only an over-simplification of the research,” Wolfe insists. “It is not true.”

2. Separate fact from fiction.

The fiction: Synapses represent learning, and the more synapses a child has the smarter he’ll be.

The fact: In truth, the brain overproduces connections in the first two years, and an important part of learning and development is to prune away the unnecessary ones. For example, Wolfe explains that babies are born with millions of cells that potentially allow them to pronounce the sounds of every language spoken in the world. “However, only the connections for sounds of the language they hear everyday are strengthened,” she says. “The ones not used are simply pruned away, which allows children to understand, and eventually speak, the language spoken at home.”

The fiction: Enriched environments are essential during the early years to develop a child’s brain to its fullest potential.

The fact: Excessive use of flash cards, workbooks, language tapes and “educational” computer games is not only inappropriate, it also deprives children of the natural interaction with their world so important to development. “As Stephen Meltzoff states in his book, The Scientist in the Crib, perhaps the question parents need to ask is not: “What is the effect of the environment on the brain?” But rather: “What is the effect of a deprived environment versus a normal or an enriched environment?”

3. Use good common sense.

Consider what truly is a deprived environment, she says. “We know the ability to speak a language is lost by about age 10 if children, because of deafness or lack of exposure to language, do not master this skill in their early years,” Wolfe notes. “Being raised in a severely impoverished environment can cause a child’s emotional growth to be stunted, as reported in the studies of Romanian orphans.”

Fortunately, most children are not raised under severely deprived conditions. But, she asks, does an enriched environment somehow change a child’s development? Is it really better? Can we produce “super babies?” Or are high-priced toys marketed to frantic parents a waste of time and money? The bottom line, Wolfe says, is that there is no proof extra stimulation is necessary for cognitive or social growth. “Rather, too much activity may result in over-stimulation and damage to a young child,” she concludes.

4. Take a simpler approach.

Parents would be helping their babies more by reading nursery rhymes and books by Dr. Seuss to the child to their little ones. “They are ideal because they introduce children to sounds that are alike, which is a natural introduction to beginning phonics,” she offers, adding that educators need to explain to parents that the human brain is innately curious and designed to learn. “Young children are driven to master their world. Hands-on play is best because it gives children a chance to explore their own interests with the support of involved adults.

5. No, TV is not evil, but ...

“Baby Einstein is not bad,” Wolfe concedes, “but raising a happy, healthy child is a matter of finding balance. Mostly, children need models of appropriate social interactions and a physically and psychologically safe haven in which to grow up.” The bottom line, she says, is to provide a rich, varied, natural environment, “and this will happen without a lot of intervention. I believe parents know instinctively what they need to do to raise their kids well. They simply need to relax and trust their own intuition.”

Three Scenarios for Virtual Education

2008-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Virtual education is a concept that has mostly been embraced by adults who want to go back to school--but just can’t find the time in their schedule to get to campus. But in the years to come this trend will not only appeal to those who want to improve their skills post-college, it has the potential to change the way Americans learn, says futurist Mark Justman of the futurist research and consulting firm Social Technologies.

“Virtual education is definitely a growing trend in World I, but how it will play out depends on a variety of factors,” Justman expalins, and in an attempt to determine the most likely scenarios, Justman described three potential evolutionary paths for virtual education: digital enrichment, clicks-and-bricks hybrids, and e-tutoring.

Scenario One: Digital Enrichment

Currently, schools integrate computers into student learning via dedicated computer labs and classes, besides having computers in classrooms themselves. Continuing evolution of this practice—using information technology to enrich existing curricula—could steer the future of virtual education toward wider use of digital tools and virtual learning environments designed to supplement conventional classroom instruction.

Drivers for this scenario include:
• Mainstreaming of computer gaming. Immersive videogames and multi-user online game environments are gaining cultural influence.
• Technophile youth. Members of the millennial generation have grown up as “digital natives,” having a high comfort level with information technologies.
• Web-based collaboration tools. Tools for digital collaboration, such as blogs, wikis, and
Podcasts have become much simpler to use, and are now common in social and news-based contexts.

Potential developments in this scenario:

• Digital writing tools. This scenario implies extensive use of digital writing tools by students, for instance, in online journals using Weblogs, collaborative work using wikis, and Web publishing. “Students could move beyond social networking sites like MySpace to more sophisticated online communities that allow actual collaboration, but are still teen-oriented,” Justman says.
• Expanded virtual tools. Additional educational applications of virtual tools could include computer-generated environments for simulating historical communities, battlefields, and economies. “Simulation games could allow students to immerse themselves in historical contexts and engage in interactive decision-making,” he explains. “Students can also conduct virtual experiments—a cost-effective way to perform realistic physics, biology, or chemistry lab simulations on the desktop.”
• Cross-cultural connections. Much like social networking, the Internet could also be used in the educational arena to connect students across cultures in a deeper integration of sister-school programs and “live” language labs.

Scenario Two: Clicks-and-Bricks Hybrids

This scenario involves expanding existing class offerings by adding new, virtual online classes alongside existing teacher-led ones. Activities would still occur largely within the confines of conventional schools, but distance learning would slowly be added to the curricula, allowing for a cost effective expansion of educational offerings without significant investments in additional staff or facilities.

Drivers for this scenario include:

• Educational cost containment. Schools face perennial funding challenges, which can be exacerbated locally by rapid population growth. Virtual classes could help schools adjust to sudden or temporary increases in the number of students.
• Demand for curriculum expansion. College-bound students and their parents are demanding greater access to Advanced Placement classes and International Baccalaureate programs.
• Turnkey curricula. Commercial virtual curricula are beginning to come to market, making it easier for schools to purchase specific virtual classes as the need arises.

Potential developments in this scenario:

• More choices. By providing virtual classes onsite at existing school facilities, schools can offer a wider range of educational choices. Small rural schools can offer choices that rival those of suburban powerhouses, and virtual classes could allow more students on the college track to take more rigorous courses.
• Cheaper teachers. Teachers’ aides and assistants could replace certified teachers, especially at the high-school level, with scripted instruction and planning.
• Impact on college years. Virtual classes may have a larger impact during the college years, for after years of learning on their own, a greater proportion of students will be self-motivated. “Online classes could also replace lecture-style introductory classes, and be complemented by periodic face-to-face discussions led by graduate students,” Justman suggests.

Scenario Three: E-Tutoring

Instead of enriching or supplementing traditional instruction, virtual learning in the E-Tutoring scenario gradually begins to replace traditional instruction. E-tutoring software has several educational advantages, such as allowing learners to progress at their own pace, standardizing instruction, and simplifying routine mastery testing. It could gain a foothold through remedial instruction, and then gradually spread to other areas of the curriculum.

Drivers for this scenario include:

• Falling costs of IT. Computer costs continue to fall, as exemplified by the One Laptop per Child initiative, which has developed student laptops that cost less than $200 for Worlds 2 and 3.
• Mandatory testing. Schools are placing more emphasis on meeting testing requirements, in part driven by testing mandates like the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal educational initiative.
• Global competition. The globalized knowledge economy is elevating the competitive importance of educating highly skilled knowledge workers.

Potential developments in this scenario:

• Quantity of instructional time. E-tutoring can allow students to proceed at their own pace and therefore to take as much (or as little) time as they need to master a topic. The risk is that slower students may not complete required coursework by the end of the school term.
• Back to basics. E-tutoring is a more traditional, back-to-basics educational approach that emphasizes demonstrated skills mastery. Educators who have embraced more progressive approaches are likely to characterize e-tutoring as another form of misguided “drill and kill” pedagogy.
• Improved performance. E-tutoring could boost US students’ performance on international standardized tests due to its greater emphasis on content mastery. “However,” Justman notes, “it is unclear whether such increases in proficiency and content mastery would come at the expense of creativity and the ability to learn how to learn.”

Implications for education

According to Justman, elements from each of the three scenarios are likely to play some role in the future of virtual education, but certain scenarios may be more probable for certain types of school districts.

“Well-funded suburban school districts are likely to gravitate toward a digital enrichment approach, while under funded or rural school districts are more likely to adopt a clicks-and-bricks hybrid approach to virtual education,” he says, noting that in both cases, the approach to virtual education is an evolutionary change from conventional instructional practices.

The E-Tutoring scenario is more of a wildcard scenario—one that has a much greater potential for disruption, he believes.

“The e-tutoring approach to virtual education has potential for widespread grassroots adoption,” Justman explains. “As ‘helicopter’ parents attempt to position their children for top colleges, they could find online e-tutoring services to be a cost-effective alternative to more expensive after-schooling services like Sylvan Learning Center or Kumon.”

He believes e-tutoring services could also appeal to parents concerned about the so-called “fuzzy math” curricula, because e-tutoring approaches tend to place a stronger emphasis on more traditional measures of content mastery.

School districts concerned about demonstrating progress toward their NCLB goals could also turn to e-tutoring technologies as a more effective means for boosting student performance on standardized tests, he believes.

“If e-tutoring curricula are able to deliver measurable improvements in student learning, they have the potential to spread rapidly, driven by both concerned parents and school districts struggling with demonstrating improved learning outcomes on state standardized tests.”

Meet: Mark Justman

Mark Justman is a futurist who is focused on tracking and analyzing consumer and technology trends in the automotive, retail, and energy industries. Since receiving his MA in future studies from the University of Hawaii in 1999, Mark’s primary interest is identifying the emerging issues and discontinuities that have the potential to impede, accelerate, or modify extrapolative trends. Mark has worked at the Institute for Alternative Futures, where his project work included construction of biotechnology scenarios for the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and creation of an
Interactive forecasting tool for healthcare on behalf of the World Health Organization.

Futurist Kevin Osborn on "Helicopter Parenting"

2008-06-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Father's Day 2008, we asked futurist Kevin Osborn to talk about a topic near and dear to his heart: Helicopter Parenting.

For those not familiar with the term, “helicopter parents" are those well-intentioned Gen Xers who are micromanaging their offspring not just in kindergarten and elementary school, but all the way through college and into adulthood.

Osborn, a senior analyst at the Washington, DC-based futurist research and consulting firm Social Technologies, has conducted extensive research on the topic, and in his brief on the topic entitled, “Helicopter Parents: Hovering over Childhood—and Beyond,” he explains that the numbers of helicopter parents are on the rise — and that the trend will have ramifications for educators and employers alike as well as for the parents and children themselves.

“The phenomenon seems to be spreading beyond pushy preschool parents,” he explains. “As a result, some educators have called the 80 million children of baby boomers the most protected and programmed children ever.” Here’s why.

Levels of engagement

This spreading behavior goes beyond pressuring teachers to explain poor grades or asking to place their children in advanced classes, Osborn insists.

“Many of these micromanaging parents continue to overstep boundaries and attempt to control their children’s lives at every age level.”

• Elementary school—Hyper-involved and often pushy, these parents volunteer as school aides to maintain a constant presence in their children’s lives, request specific teachers year after year, and may do the bulk of work on their children’s school projects.

• High school—Helicopter parents become intrusive micromanagers, text messaging their kids in class, continuing to do their homework projects and papers for them, and writing their college application essays.

• College—Parents intervene in roommate disputes, try to register their kids for classes, and contact professors to question grades. At some schools, more parents than kids attend freshman orientation.

• Career—College career offices, corporate recruiters, and human resources departments are all reporting increased involvement and interference from parents. Reportedly, one interviewee at Boeing brought his mom into the interview.

What is driving the trend?

The reasons for the trend are complicated, but somewhat predictable, Osborn believes.

“As family sizes shrink, attention is focused more intently on the one or two children and some parents have responded by sheltering or smothering them,” he says. “Also, many baby boomers have worked hard to develop close bonds with their kids, often positioning themselves as their children’s best friends or closest confidants.”

Plus, he says, the growing spread of suburbs has made spontaneous community interaction more difficult.

“Parents who want their children to have active social lives start planning play dates and signing them up for sports and extracurricular activities at a young age. Some may never step back from these habits of active management.”

Other drivers include safety fears, a heightened sense of competition among baby boomers who fear for their children’s future economic security, and ubiquitous infotech-enabled connection. Additionally, an increasing number of college parents see themselves—in the face of soaring tuition costs—as savvy consumers and their children’s education as a product.

How will it play out?

“If seeing other parents hover compels more parents to join them to ensure that their own children don’t fall behind, the practice will likely continue to spread,” Osborn shares, noting that a number of different outcomes are possible.

• Anxiety disorders—Some children of over-involved parents are likely to become more anxious, risk-averse, and self-conscious.

• Confidence deficit—Denied the accomplishment of setting goals and achieving—or failing to achieve—these goals on their own may carry into these children’s adult years, making them less assertive, possibly less competent, and more eager to conform.

• Suing schools—If parents become more meddlesome in primary schools, the market for liability insurance for teachers will grow rapidly. The number of teachers purchasing liability insurance already jumped 25% between 2000 and 2005, according to insurer Forrest T. Jones.

There are business implications to this trend, as well, he says.

“Hovering helicopter parents want to keep strict tabs on their children, which will expand the market for ‘emergency’ mobile phones for very young children and surveillance devices for older children,” Osborn forecasts, adding that as this group ages parents will continue to want to control. “They may demand control over credit and debit cards, checking and savings accounts, and other financial services.”

From a father’s point of view

But Osborn can relate. The award-winning author and editor of more than 40 books — including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Bringing Up Baby (Macmillan, 1997; 2006), The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Classical Mythology (Macmillan, 1998; 2004), and The Encyclopedia of American Sports Heroes (Scholastic, 1996) — is also a father.

“Naturally all parents want the best for their children—the best education, the best job, the best life partner, the best life,” Osborn observes. “And all parents want their child to succeed and to be happy. But what many of today’s parents don’t seem to realize is that what they see as 'the best' may not be best for their children."

The surest road to happiness and success is to define—and then pursue—them oneself," Osborn believes.

"By not giving their children the room to discover and define what makes them happy and what success means to them—by not letting their children grow up—they may be leaving them rudderless—and ultimately unhappy—throughout their adult lives.”

The Future of Youth Happiness

2008-05-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last year, MTV approached the futurist research and consulting firm Social Technologies to help them answer a question: “What makes 12- to 24-year olds happy today and going forward into the future?”

“We had some basic ideas,” says futurist Andy Hines, who headed up the study. “We figured that friends and technology would be important to this group. But how did they feel about religion, their parents, fame, and money? We began reading everything we could on the topic, and then the real research started.”

MTV also enlisted the Associated Press to add a quantitative component to our qualitative findings. Their researchers polled 1,280 more youths in the 12-to-24-age range, and in late August 2007, published a series of press releases based on this data. Here’s what they found:

The findings

Hines says that like most people, today’s youth pursue happiness through a combination of three strategies: the pleasure of the moment, relationships with family and friends, and the long-term search for meaning and purpose.

“But when we probed more deeply we discovered that, more than any generation before them, today’s young people recognize happiness is something that can and should be worked toward,” he says. “In short, we found they have a very practical approach to happiness.”

Specifically, he found they pursue this practical approach in the context of what they see as an uncertain and rapidly changing world. They realize they can’t go it alone, and are highly reliant on friends and, perhaps more than is often recognized, on family and on spirituality or faith.

Consider faith “For today’s youth, it is not about ardent conversion to a religious cause. Instead, they see faith as useful for making sense of the world, and embrace it for that reason. Same with family: this is not about a wholesale return to traditional family values; it is a practical recognition that family provides security and direction that help along the road to happiness.”

Consider family “Initially, we postulated that youth might be looking to shoot down helicopter parents who hover over their every move like Secret Service agents. To our surprise, while they do find this annoying, it is only mildly so and largely tolerable. In fact, they told us they appreciate the concern and believe parents are looking out for their best interest.”

Consider fame “Do youth want to be famous? Absolutely, the youths we interviewed but they recognize the odds are not in their favor. Celebrity life is appealing, but they are content to fall back on a more “normal” life if fame doesn’t work out.”

Consider technology “The key word here is tool, for it is a means, not an end,” Hines notes. “Moreover, because they are completely comfortable with it—it is a native language for them, not a second language like for the rest of us—they are comfortable building relationships via technology. Perhaps a quarter of youth makes little distinction between F2F and virtual relationships, and that percentage is likely to grow. But this doesn’t mean human contact is not important—au contraire.” In fact, technology is not replacing “physical” friends, Hines insists. it merely opens up a wider range of social options. Sure, a small percentage of kids overdo it, using the online world to escape from reality, but most see it as simply part of their daily routine.

The bottom line

After months of research, Hines says the essential finding is that youths are taking a more practical, proactive approach to happiness than previous generations. “On the surface they may come across as overly concerned with cool—or perhaps as cynical—but family, friends, and faith are hardly the stuff of rebels,” Hines says. “Yet they also want to make a difference. And I wouldn’t bet against them.”

Matt Catapano, senior director of programming at MTV, agrees. “What we loved about the study is that we were taking a snapshot in time,” Catapano explains. “If you look at young people overall, you see that they are incredibly optimistic about who they are, where they are going, and what their future holds. That’s a constant to being young. They will always be impulsive, indestructible, impatient, and want to have fun.”

He confides that the findings have proven significant to MTV’s directors. “We have shared the report with every department at MTV, and also bring it out when we spend time with our salespeople and advertising partners,” Catapano adds. “It now is helping our advertisers refine their campaigns, and the report is even influencing the shows we decide to put on MTV.”

For more information, visit www.socialtechnologies.com/mtv.

Note to Educators: Keep Moving Forward

2008-04-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

DAN PINK / PETER NOONAN DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

Part 3 of a 3-part series from the Blog of Hope Katz Gibbs

During a recent conversation with author Dan Pink (pictured here), Peter Noonan, the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction in the Fairfax County Public Schools, talked about the future of public education. In Part 1 of their conversation (posted April 9), they talked about Pink's new manga graphic novel, "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko." In Part 2 (posted April 16), they talk about what life — and school — might be like when their own young children graduate from high school in the year 2020. In this final segment, Pink and Noonan discuss what it will take to get all educators to focus on the future ...

Peter Noonan: Increasingly, it is becoming clear that there are two things that really impact how well a child will do in school—and probably in life: the parent’s income level and the parent’s education level.

Since we can’t control either of those, what keeps us going is the ability to see the future and think about what is important. In Fairfax, more than a third of our students are either English as second language learners, in the special education program, and / or in poverty. We’re working hard with that group to try to bring them up.

Dan Pink: As a self-proclaimed non-educator, speaking to an experienced educator, I’d ask you this: how would you do that in the current system?

Peter Noonan: Excellent question, and one we are really wrestling with for we are traveling down the road of creating a whole team initiative — that means we’re teaching science, technology, engineering and math by means of career and technical education. Options for kids include classes in auto tech, beautician school, and engineering and physics, as well.

We’re also looking to do something similar on the humanities side by incorporating English and Social Studies classes into the program. In time, there will be other subjects and professions that we target, but this is our initial foray into this completely interdisciplinary approach and its very new. And for some educators, it is scary because it is so new.

Dan Pink: I think that approach makes good sense because again, in the so-called real world, problems come at you not as a math problem or a science problem but as just a problem. Yet, there’s this kind of cabining of these disciplines and in fact everything’s connected.

You see this interestingly at the college level. There has been in the last 25 years something like a four fold increase in interdisciplinary majors in college level because college students are looking at the world and saying “Wow, these academic courses don’t match this world.”

If they want to go into biology, for instance, there are so many ethical issues to deal with that you need a background in philosophy or ethics, or you’re going to have a very difficult time untangling some of the knots.

So you have this kid saying I want to be a biologist but I need to major in biology and in philosophy because all of these things are ethical issues and I’m finding philosophy makes me a better biologist. So I think we’ll continue to see more customization at the college level.

Peter Noonan: I think that’s exactly where we’ll begin to see customize in education take hold, and we’ll try to pick up as much as we possibly can within our system—probably first at the high school level.

Dan Pink: I wonder if this current generation will demand that things change. Or maybe, but on the other hand, they might take a very segmented view of things and say, listen, while I’m in school, here’s the school rules, I’m just going to go through the motions, do what I need to do to get by, and then I’m going to go off and do what I really want to do like go on FaceBook, play computer games, do my blog—all these things that I really want to do that school doesn’t allow me to do. I’m not really going to rebel in any dramatic way, I’m just going to play by the rules here and then go to a different spear and play by my own set of rules.

Peter Noonan: That’s very creative thinking.

Dan Pink: Or it's schizophrenic, depending on your point of view. But it’s what we do already as a society. I do my religion here, my work there, school here. Its just further compartmentalization, and I think that’s the whole reason why we have to think about how to create that interdisciplinary approach and show kids the interconnectedness of the world and of school and of what they are doing in creating that relevance. And thought: How much writing across the curriculum are you doing? That might help.

Peter Noonan: We’re doing a lot of non-fiction writing now, which is sort of a new world for us. In the last five years it has taken hold, and I think it is promising because its providing opportunity for kids to write technically and to look at things from a historical perspective. They might be writing manuals, and the like.

Dan Pink: It’s also a good test of the mastery of the material to be able to write about a certain topic. I think about my chemistry class in high school and I got As for one reason only: I figured out that basically if you get more or less the right answer on your lab report, and you do it neatly, you’re going to be okay.

If the teacher had ever said “Alright Pink, what I need you to do is sort of write a paragraph of what an ion is,” or “I need you to write a paragraph about how I came up with…” it would have been over. There’s no way I had no mastery of the material. It was just always very good at delivering to authority figures what they wanted, in the form that they want it. And I’m reasonably good at math so the arithmetic part of it I could figure out pretty well, and that’s all you needed.

Peter Noonan: We’re starting to see more of that, I fear, and so we’ve been trying to counter it. We use a tool called interactive notebooks, where kids are actually journaling about the experiences they are having as they learn the material. It makes them look at things at from different perspectives. So they’re writing about math, social studies, and science. I think that’s all positive, and if it’s successful it will help us come up with more creative solutions in the future.

We’re also taking a first stab at building a customized learning plan for each kid so we can see where they are academically at different passage points: 3rd grade, 6th grade, 8th grade and 12th grade. So as a parent, you’ll know how your child is progressing.

Dan Pink: I think it’s important to look at education from the perspective of a parent. I mean, does the average parent really care about the school or school system? In some abstract sense surely you care about whether your school is testing well. It’s a marker telling you the teachers and principal and administrators are doing the right things. It’s also a marker for your property values.

But as a parent I definitely want to know how is my kid is progressing. And I would want to know more than every three years. And, I would want to be part of the decision making process if the child isn’t doing well.

Peter Noonan: Some of what we’d look at would be measured based on a national norm or national average, and some of it would be based on and how well the child did this year as compared to last year. That’s the most important thing to the parents, I believe.

Dan Pink: And if you were brought into that conversation as a parent and say “alright, we’re going to meet at the beginning of this year, we’re going to establish some goals for Eliza. What are your thoughts, here are my thoughts as a teacher, and Eliza what do you think?” Then you’ll put it into a learning plan and at the end of the year we’re going to look at it to see did Eliza meet her goals?

Peter Noonan: Right, and as long as Eliza is brought into the process and has a part of setting goals and how to reach them—then the parents largely butt out, not entirely but largely, and the teacher ends up creating a very customized way to help the student meet her goals. It’s a demanding task for the teacher, especially in a class of 30-35 students. The next trick for us cause we’ve to refocus on what’s most important and figure out ways to engage kids more personally.

Dan Pink: Yeah, I can see that. I do think there is a class bias where that kind of customization won’t work for the less well off kids and I think that’s garbage. I think in many ways it’s more urgent.

Peter Noonan: I would agree. The kids that don’t have parents to act as strong advocates for them need that kind of personalized approach.

Dan Pink: That is a very good way to put it. I never thought of it that way, but it’s also the case when it comes to the healthcare system. My wife had some serious problems with pre-term labor, and when you’re afraid you might have a baby at 21 weeks and your doped up on all kinds of drugs—you’re not making clear decisions. You have to have your pain-in-the-ass husband there asking questions.

I think a lesson for all families is that when one person has a serious medical issue you need another person there to operate as an advocate. Now, again, there’s a class bias there because A: its about time, and B: it’s some measure of education.

So, if I had a medical problem I’m going to be very fine having my Yale trained lawyer wife advocate for me. But someone whose wife has to work the late shift or someone whose wife is working 14 hours a day or doesn’t have a college education—that guy is going to have difficulties.

The same thing is true with education. These kids don’t have an advocate. And they need one.

Peter Noonan: Thank you very much for your time, Dan. It has been very interesting to hear your take on education. I’ll look forward to reading your manga book, and to trying to get our students to write one, too.

Dan Pink: It was my pleasure. Good luck to you!

Seeing the world with 20 / 20 vision

2008-04-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

DAN PINK / PETER NOONAN DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

Part 2 of a 3-part series from the Blog of Hope Katz Gibbs

During a recent conversation with author Dan Pink, educator Peter Noonan (the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction in the Fairfax County Public Schools, pictured here), talked about the future of public education. In part 1 of their conversation (posted April 9), they talked about Pink's new manga graphic novel, "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko." In this excerpt, they talk about what life — and school — might be like when their own children graduate from high school in the year 2020 ...

Peter Noonan: You spoke at our leadership conference in August 2007, and probably remember the event was called 20/20 Vision. I am the father of a 4-year-old son (and an eight year old daughter), but the idea of the conference was that kids my boy’s age will be graduating from high school in the year 2020. My question to you is what do you think the world is going to look like in 12 years?

Dan Pink: Well, my honest answer is that I don’t have a clue. But I can tell you some of the things I’m seeing now, and how they might play out.

What we consider public education is increasingly less cabined away from other aspects of society. That is, we had this notion of education being something that happens at a certain moment in your life, then you finish it and are put into the real world. On some level, it never really worked that way. But today the school isn’t the only spot where leaning takes place. Kids are learning by playing video games, so is that education, right? And learning doesn’t end after you stop going to school. It becomes part of your every aspect of your life. Learning is not an activity that is reserved for a finite part of time in a discreet place.

I think the real question we need to be asking kids isn’t “what do you want to be when you grow up,” but rather, “what’s your passion?” It would be great if educators can find out what turns a kid on.

Peter Noonan: Did you know what you wanted to be when you were 12? I didn’t. And I can see the value in helping them test the waters, which is what we are constantly trying to do. But from your perspective, how do you see it playing out?

Dan Pink: Quite honestly, if you ask me what your passion is I’m like wait a second, hold on. I gotta get this one right. Today I’m interested in Manga. Tomorrow it may be something else.

But how about this scenario: Say a kid comes to school and the teacher says, “what are you interested in” and he says martial arts. So the teacher helps him build a curriculum completely around martial arts. Now that’s the kind of thing that’s going to make some parents completely roll their eyes and say “what the hell kind of education is this?”

Well, what happens is the kid works a couple of days in the studio, the martial arts studio, he’s learning math, they teach math in parts. He learns math in terms of force and angles and all that sort of stuff because there’s plenty of math and physics in martial arts. He knows more about Japanese history than any non-academic because he’s really into martial arts and wants to know how it got started. And then he starts writing brochures for the martial arts studio. He wants to make sure he gets it right, so he works hard to use language effectively.

Now, if you had this kid—or me even—read four paragraphs about bees and write a summary paragraph about it, I’m going to be bored out of my mind. But if you teach me all kinds of things around a topic I’m interested in, then that’s different.

So that idea of context I think is important. I see it in my own life; I’ll learn something from this conversation. Now is this education? I don’t know. Yeah. Kind of. Sort of. So I think it’s that idea that is in many ways missing.

Now, the challenging part of that idea is that education is like breathing. Education is an on going process than falls into question perhaps whether we need these institutions called schools to be places to deposit people for a certain amount of time

Peter Noonan: My colleagues and I have actually spent a lot of time talking about just that. Our goal is to be able to articulate what the purpose is beyond the years someone spends in school. In fact, I was recently interviewed for an article that ran in The Washington Post, and the reporter wanted to know what is the purpose of dropping a kid off from eight o’clock in the morning and having him stay there until three thirty in the afternoon? Into the future, she wanted to know, are there other opportunities and solutions for kids in terms of how—and when and where—we educate them.

So short of changing the way we operate our school days, we might incorporate other changes into our strategy, like creating opportunities for kids to be able to find something that they have an interest in—or using something like manga where they write a 10-page story about what it’s like to be an immigrant.

Dan Pink: Yes. Get them to learn English by writing a manga story about how their family came over here and what was great, and what was scary, and what do they wish they could change. Then distribute it to the whole school because everyone will be interested in knowing that story. It would be powerful, and I think most kids in that situation step up.

Peter Noonan: Absolutely. And they learn narrative skills, writing skills, and they learn that what they have experienced and think is important. It ceases to be a factory model of education. One of our goals is not to simply be “stamping out” kids.

Certainly, it seems like so many industries today are focused on customization. We’re sitting here talking at a Starbucks, and there are seemingly a zillion ways to have your cup of coffee prepared. To be more in-sync with the times, educators do realize we need to make changes.

But one of the big reasons we aren’t quite to change is, frankly, we’re afraid we’re going to screw up. So then do we become paralyze and think it’s not worth messing a generation up because it has worked okay since the beginning of time—and it’ll probably work okay for the next 50 years.

But at what point do you say enough is enough? And after that, how do you decide what to keep, what to throw out, and what to bring in that is different?

Dan Pink: I think your analysis is brilliant. I mean, I think it’s the fear of messing up that is holding education back. And as you say, there will come a point when the endless bountiful service of mediocrity becomes more dangerous than the risk of slipping up.

Peter Noonan: Right, right. And it seems like we’re there.

Dan Pink: I realize this isn’t easy because this is complicated stuff. I’m always amazed about how many social problems—ones no one else wants to deal with—are dumped on schools. So they’re assigned to do nutrition. They are assigned to do sex ed. To me, these are parental responsibilities, but schools are forced to take them on, as if the schools’ job of teaching every kid who passes through the door wasn’t hard enough.

The other thing I have noticed is that professionals in the education system probably have less autonomy than any other professional in any other segment in American society. That’s part of your challenge right there. Teachers have to listen to principals, and principals take orders from superintendents. And human nature is such that when autonomy starts to be crimped people go and do something else. Then if you look at the system from the kids’ perspective, they have almost no autonomy.

Peter Noonan: So how do you create autonomy in a large school division?

Dan Pink: I think that it’s extremely difficult to do on a large level. So ultimately the problem is that all the rules and regulations, like No Child Left Behind and standardized tests, are a function of external accountability factors that have nothing to do, in my mind, with education at all.

Peter Noonan: Right. And if you ask a parent what do you care more about, the school or your kid? What are they going to say? And so, even the unit of analysis is very beauracratic and not at all customized. Because we are a government entity, schools are forced to meet the standards and adhere to NCLB, so we are not thinking as much about what is the experience of this or that particular kid. We are not thinking about it the way a parent does. These kids, these individuals, are just aggregations of data.

But we are educators first, and truly we want to fix the system. Our catch phrase now is to say we’ll do it “child by child.” Ultimately, that’s how I think we’ll be able to improve the system.

Dan Pink: I think that’s a good aspiration.

Peter Noonan: I do too.

How Manga Can Help Kids Learn?

2008-04-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

DAN PINK / PETER NOONAN DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

Part 1 of a 3-part series from Hope Katz Gibbs

At a Starbucks coffee shop in suburban Washington, DC educator Peter Noonan — Assistant Superintendent for Instruction in the Fairfax County Public Schools — recently sat down with world-renown author Dan Pink to talk about the future of public education. Although Pink quickly admits he is not an educator, his previous books, “A Whole New Mind,” and “Free Agent Nation,” have struck a chord with the education community.

“As educators, we are interested in learning what Dan has to say because he seems to have a good understanding about what makes people tick,” Noonan explains. “Since our sole mission as educators is to help children realize their potential, his insight is very appealing.”

Noonan said he was particularly interested in Pink’s latest book, a graphic novel written in a popular Japanese graphic novel style manga, entitled “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: the Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need.” Their conversation started with that topic.

Peter Noonan: For those who aren’t familiar with manga graphic novels, can you tell us what that is, why you wrote it, and what do you think of the future of manga?

Dan Pink: Manga is an increasingly popular genre in the United States. You can go to any Borders bookstore and the manga / graphic novel section is larger than any other section in the shop. But most of it is fiction, and it’s for teens and kids. What we don’t have a lot of here is a non-fiction manga for adults—and I thought that was a missed opportunity.

I also think the career book genre is thread bear. The reigning champion is What color is you Parachute, and bless it’s heart, when you open up the pages you can smell the must coming out of it. I saw a real opportunity to give readers something new and interesting that marries those two genres—especially young readers who are going online for their news and data. I wanted to give them strategic information in a smart compelling new format that goes down easy and provides a lot of value.

So my book is a 160-page illustrated Japanese-style manga graphic novel that is similar to a comic book. It tells a good story in a limited number of pages, and mostly with illustrations, which mean it, can be read and absorbed quickly. The project was really fun to do. I am definitely using muscles I haven’t used before.

[FYI: Riverhead Trade is the publisher that did my other books [A Whole New Mind, and Free Agent Nation]. The illustrator is Rob Ten Pas, a winner of the Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga competition—which is like American idol for American Manga artists.]

Peter Noonan: Can you see any applications for manga to be used in education?

Dan Pink: Manga can be used in a whole array of ways, but for education specifically you already are seeing companies like Kaplan Inc. come out with a series of books. Titles like “Warcraft: Dragon Hunt,” use words like sanctimonious and exculpate to help kids ramp up for the verbal parts of the STAS and other standardized tests.

There are also manga books of Shakespeare’s plays that use Japanese illustrations and actual Shakespeare language. These are not the dumbed-down Cliff Notes, but are more like a theatrical production. A British publisher is coming out with Romeo and Juliet in manga form to retell the story if two rival families in Tokyo. Also, the World Bank is using manga-style publications for some of its instruction manuals.

But what was interesting to me was that very few people over 30 have any idea what is going on with this. Yet among people under 30, manga is huge. So it might be very valuable for a school district like yours, because it is easy for the reader to relate to. The characters are written specifically so they have a universal appeal. For instance, the main character in my book is Johnny Bunko—which is a play on a Japanese term of art for small comic books called bunko bon.

Johnny’s sidekicks are named Carlos and Yuko, and I chose those names because they could come from just about anywhere. There are also some characters that are black skinned—but I never make it clear if they are African American or not. They could be Asian. That’s part of the power of manga, and that would appeal to students in a school district like Fairfax County that has so many different cultures.

In my opinion, all you need to do is unleash the graphic novels for them to read as an example. Then give the kids a program like Manga Life (a computer design program), and have them create their own stories. I bet they’ll come up incredible things.

Peter Noonan: That brings up an interesting point, for at FCPS we are looking into the best ways to teach our students a foreign language, and to expose them to foreign cultures.

It isn’t always easy to figure out what is best, and I’ll give you an example of a situation that happened a few months ago. I had a meeting with the Administer of Education from Taiwan who was encouraging us to not teach the new popular Chinese characters used in business, but to teach our American students the traditional versions of the Chinese characters.

His reason was that the old, highly complex version tells a story, has a deeper cultural meaning and cultural significance than the newer characters that are used in sort “corporate” China. His concern is that this newfangled version of the language is eroding the historic culture of China.

In fact, we’re teaching the business version / simplified Chinese to be more in line with what is going on in the business world of China. I’m wondering if the older Japanese community is looking at manga and saying these popular books are eroding the beautiful traditional written culture.

Dan Pink: Not really, because manga is a young medium. It came about in the aftermath of World War II when most of Japan was very devastated. I lived in Japan for a while, and didn’t realize it until I spent some time talking to the Japanese who lived through the war just how bad off the country was in 1946 and 1947. The people literally had nothing. Many of the cities were reduced to rubble. There was no TV, and most people were dirt poor. So manga became the perfect medium for people who don’t have any money, because all it takes to create an entertaining story is a piece of paper and pencil.

Manga has its roots in wood block printing—an ancient form of Japanese art. A few people in Tokyo who lived this one particular apartment building started drawing stuff in what is now manga style, and their new art form ended up becoming the epicenter of the entire pop culture industry in Japan. In the last 50 years, an entire industry has grown out of it, including anime, television programs, and games.

The reason it is catching on internationally is that cultures, in general, are becoming visual. Thanks to the Internet, everything we experience is constantly streaming, fast paced, and accessible. And although no one has ever verified it, it seems to me that the length of these graphic novels was devised so that people could read them between stops on Tokyo subway. In fact, when you go to a subway you see that all the newsstands are piled with manga novels.

Peter Noonan: One thing we talk about all the time in education is how best to meet the needs of kids who are having the hardest time learning. We focus on how to differentiate instruction from classroom to classroom, and it sounds to me that incorporating manga into the curriculum might be a great way to begin; it’s like the ultimate differentiating of instruction whether it’s for adults or for kids. So, if we were to take this idea or this notion of manga and look at it through the lens of public education, how do you convince strata of adults that this is a good approach?

Dan Pink: Yeah, I can definitely see how that would be a hard sell because critics would probably start using the phrase “dumbing it down,” and worry that the language in it isn’t rich enough. And there’s some truth to that. So you have to show that its being done elsewhere, like at the World Bank, with Shakespeare’s plays and to help teach kids SAT words.

Although I’m not an educator, I think that one of the interesting aspects of using this art form would be unleashing kids to write their own manga novels, rather than saying “hey, we’re all going to read manga.” The thing is that foremost it has to be a good story or it’ll loses the reader’s attention—so they have to do it well.

There’s one very popular series in Japan is the history of Buddha told in a graphic novel. It’s fantastic, a masterwork. But it’s a narrative. Now there are other kinds of stuff that’s instructional manga, such as a popular guide to time management. And I think school-age kids would do some extraordinary things because they are thinking visually about the world. Using manga as a teaching tool also levels the playing field in some ways. Those who don’t have great verbal skills, but have something to say, now have a new way to get their thoughts across.

Check back soon for Part 2 of their conversation: “Seeing the world through 20 / 20 Vision.”

Anna: The birth of a baby, and a Blog

2008-03-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

From The Parent Diaries: How to help your child succeed in school — without going insane

She was passing out when I found her.

Anna was two days from turning five months old on that freezing February morning in 1996. She was so cute, so sweet, smelled so good, and my husband Mike and I couldn’t take our eyes off our little wonder.

But on that day, I decided to go down into the basement with two hands free and do the laundry all by myself. In my best sing-songy voice I told her mommy-would-be-riiiiigght-back, strapped her into her bouncy seat with a toy to swat at, and grabbed the basket of dirty baby clothes.

Before I even poured the Dreft into the washer, I heard her make the strangest coughing sound. I flew up the stairs, and there she was, suddenly warm and glassy-eyed, and worse yet, she looked like she was going to die.

I screamed for Mike, who ran into the room and at first thought she was just falling asleep. But I knew something was wrong. He trusted my instinct, scooped her up, and the three of us bolted for the pediatrician’s office half a mile away.

Surely the doctor would fix this. I’d picked him because he was about 70, seemed to have seen everything, and would help me make my way through the first months of motherhood.

We were panting by the time we arrived at his door, and with one glance at Anna’s half-closed eyes and bright red cheeks the nurse rushed us into the examination area and the doctor ran in. I stripped off her jacket and as he pressed his stethoscope to her tiny chest I blurted out: “I don’t know what happened. She was fine just 15 minutes ago. It must be my fault. Last night I had my first glass of wine since getting pregnant, and I’m breastfeeding. It must be my fault.”

He paused, took one look at my baby then looked up at me. Coldly, he said: “Yes. I think she has alcohol poisoning. Take her home. She’s all right. She’ll be ok.”

Then the nurse pulled the thermometer from Anna’s bottom and said, “Excuse me doctor, this baby has a temperature of 103-degrees. I don’t think this is alcohol poisoning.”

That nurse saved my daughter’s life.

“Ah yes,” the doctor mumbled. “Um, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs, I believe your baby is going into a coma. Do you want us to call an ambulance, or do you want to take her to the hospital?”

All I could think to say was, “You are asking me?”

I didn’t. I said yes, please call an ambulance, with tears streaming down my face.

And at that moment, I lost faith in the almighty power of the doctor. I swore to myself that if Anna lived through this, I’d question everyone and everything that came into her life.

Looking back on it now, I believe "The Parent Diaries" was born that day for it became painfully clear that there was no way to ensure that by surrounding my baby with the best doctors — and the best toys, playgroups, organic food, literature, art and friends — that my husband I couldn’t keep bad things from happening to our little angel.

We definitely needed a guidebook.

AFTER THE TRAUMA, A NEW TRUTH

Thankfully, that terrible day ended in the best way possible. We did call an ambulance, and the doctors at the hospital determined Anna had contracted e coli sepsis, a relatively common but potentially deadly bacterial infection.

A week of antibiotics knocked it out of her system, and she didn’t suffer any long-term ill effects from the illness. We never were able to figure out how she contracted that awful infection – but ever since we have been diligent about using a lot of antibacterial soap.

Anna is 12 now. She's in middle school, and the perfect definition of a "tween." She tortures Mike and I with new bigger girl worries — boys, grades, body-baring clothes, parties, boys. Although I'm constantly exhausted by the challenges of parenting this young woman, I cherish every moment of it.

Ditto for our son, Dylan, a 3rd grader.

As I've watched them grow through preschool and elementary, deal with good and bad teachers, mean and wonderful friends, I never gave up the idea of finding that magical guidebook.

So I decided to write it.

This blog — and the subsequent books, website and company that will accompany the concept — is dedicated to my kids.

FOR PARENTS / BY PARENTS

The audience for the blog and book, of course, is all the parents who struggle with the same issues my family does:

• What is a good school?
• How hard should we push our kids to achieve?
• What does success mean, really?
• What might the world look like when they graduate from high school?
• How many extra-curricular activities are appropriate — and how busy should we really make them?
• Is it ok to go to the movies with a group of friends at 12? At 10 p.m.? How about parties?
• How terrible is it to Cs? Ds?
• Which is the better language to have them take: Spanish, French, German — or Chinese?
• How many of those challenging AP classes do they really need to take?
• When is it time to let go?

Central, however, is this single query: *How do we do what is best for our kids without making ourselves, our spouse — and our children — nuts in the process?*

ASK THE EXPERTS

I will attempt to answer some of those questions in subsequent entries that will include conversations with people who have definite ideas on the topic:

• Some of the future-thinking administrators in Fairfax County, VA that I have had the privilege to work with in my job as Director of Communications for the City of Fairfax Schools;

• Several futurists — who are also parents — that I have worked with at Social Technologies, a global research and consulting firm based in Washington, DC. Our conversations will range in topics from “The future of virtual education” to “The Pros and Cons of Helicopter Parenting” and “Protecting the Kids.”

• I’ll also interview early childhood brain researchers, including Pat Wolfe, who I had the privilege to write about for the American Association of School Administrators;

• Dan Pink, author of “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will rule the future,” will talk about his new manga business book, “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko.”

• And we’ll be talking with anthropologist Helen Fisher, author of “Why We Love,” and “The First Sex,” on why teens want to have sex — and why more will be doing it at a younger age.

THAT'S JUST THE BEGINNING

Do check back monthly for new entries to The Parent Diaries.

I’ll also look forward to hearing about how you help you child succeed in school — without going insane.