We'll be finishing Outliers Wednesday, Oct 14, 2009. Where did the time go? I have really enjoyed the book and the lively discussions. The next book on the docket is Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, by Clayton Christenson. I'll get a reading schedule together and we'll start discussing it on October 21, 2009.
Mondays at noon, some folks who are Venango Chamber of Commerce members, the mayor, Chuck Mowery, Scott O'Donnell, Steph Schneider and I have been meeting to discuss Closing the Innovation Gap by Judy Estrin. We're working on setting up some School to Work experiences for students and teachers. Let's discuss it at the final meeting if you have any interest in this.
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I really enjoyed reading about cultural legacies, especially the legacy of the rice paddy farmers. It is no wonder that the work ethic of Asian students is one characterized by early morning to late night work. Additionally, I am really interested in how KIPP became so successful. How can we get our students to desire deeper understanding of big ideas every day, SIX days a week? I would have loved to have been immersed in a system where learning is so cherished. However, I do feel bad for the one girl who admits that her days are monotonous; characterized by early mornings and late nights, with little social interaction with her mother. But, I think that her drive to succeed is impeccable. Lastly, do you believe that we should extend the school year? Who would have a greater problem with this: teachers or students?
ReplyDeleteThis has been a great implementation of technology. Do I need to come over to fill out an Act 48 sheet?
"SSLANT..smile, sit up, listen, ask questions, nod when being spoken to, and track with your eyes." pg. 251. Basic success skills. Are they realistic?
ReplyDelete"Wnen it comes to reading skills, poor kids learn nothing when school is not in session." pg. 258 Upper class and some middle class kids put in "a few solid months of learning during the summer while [the lower class child]watches television and plays outside." pg. 259
.... What can we do about this??
"Outliers are those who have been given opportunities-and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them." pg. 167
"Marita just needed a chance. Someone brought a little bit of the rice paddy to the South Bronx and explained to her the miracle of meaningful work." pg. 269 Is anyone listening??
"Superstar Lawyers and math whizzes and software entrepreneurs appear at first blush to lie outside ordinary experience. But they don't." pg. 285 What do history, community, opportunity and legacy have to do with it?
"Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky-but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all." pg. 285 Marlon Brando perhaps should have cried, "I could have been an OUTLIER!"