Being A Change Agent
In the world of after-school you have an opportunity every day to change the life of a young person. You can do that while applying the 3 R’s of after-school: Relationships, Relevance, and Rigor. You can do this in a variety of ways—all of which sound easy but require that you are thoughtful and intentional. …
Read MoreWhy e-Learning
e-Learning is the broad term describing the learning done while on a computer that is usually connected to a network. This type of learning has several advantages, (check out Eric Dent, University of Maryland Top 10 Reasons for Online Learning), perhaps the biggest is that you can connect anytime, anywhere that you have a signal…
Read MoreNot So Usual Celebrations
August 31st is National Trail Mix Day. Trail Mix is a snack that you can carry with you easily—whether exploring the world on foot or in the car. Trail Mix is a combination of sweet and salty that is delicious. If you are making your own trail mix, try to avoid things that are sticky—yuck,…
Read MoreThe Outdoor Club
One of the intelligences identified by Howard Gardner is that of the naturalist. Multiple intelligences research has been able to identify connections made in the brain based on the reception of certain stimuli. As different parts of the brain are stimulated, they “light up” because of the activity that is happening in that place in…
Read MoreBook Review: The Tipping Point—Malcolm Gladwell
I first read the book Tipping Point when it was published in 2000. It was interesting reading and I applied it to my current situation as an administrator for an after-school program in a school district. The premise is that things need to reach a critical mass, and at that moment, the shift begins. I…
Read MoreNot So Usual Celebrations
August 27th is Just Because Day. Why in the world would be celebrate a Just Because Day? The answer is simple, “Because.” This is the day to do things for no apparent rhyme or reason, but simply just because you would like to. This means that you can act on a whim, take a chance…
Read MoreHaving A Successful Poetry Club
There are several things that you can do to have a successful poetry club on Fridays or as a club offering in middle or high school. This genre has a variety of different forms and although we sometimes act if poetry is squishy and mushy, we can find some great examples of poetry used in…
Read MoreNot So Usual Celebrations
August 26th is Women’s Equality Day. August 26th, 1971, by an Act of Congress, was established to commemorate the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote—to have full access and equity to vote on national and state policies and procedures. Women’s Equality Day continues to highlight inequities of…
Read MoreEquity and Access
Equity and access—two words that are often seen together in reading about diversity, but what do these words really mean. Do they mean that everybody has to be treated exactly the same and that square pegs must be driven into round holes? Does it mean that everybody has to do everything, even if they would…
Read MoreNot So Usual Celebrations
August 25th is Kiss and Make Up Day. To be sure, we do not literally promote “Kiss and Make Up Day”, because kissing is the last thing we want to have happen during this time of COVID 19. So, when looking at this day, let’s look at the intent of the day, the truth behind…
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