Happy birthday to us,
With all the talk of Dave Mitchell’s stunning anti bullying school assembly - Stronger Than a Bully - we sometimes neglect to mention that his first program for us - Ben Franklin - is actually a stunner in itself!
Many years ago, back in the murky primordial days of school assemblies, when Mobile Ed Productions and a few others first began introducing schools to the joy of school science assemblies, it was quite a breakthrough concept. Used to magic shows and clowns and rope twirlers, schools readily embraced the new idea that a school assembly could be more than just an entertaining diversion. And, in truth, many of the school shows available back then were good shows (though a lot were not!), but they were just entertaining. They did little at all to advance the educational goals of schools.
Well, it is February 29, a day that only comes around every four years! Today, traditionally, women can propose marriage to men! This is a custom that may trace back to England and Scotland in the 13th Century. Originally, women planning to take advantage of the day would wear breeches on this day, but later, Victorian mores altered this to a scarlet petticoat! Either way, gentlemen beware today! This is a tradition born back in the 5th century from an agreement between St. Bridget and St. Patrick.
Depending upon who you read and/or believe, today may the exact anniversary of the publication of the Gutenberg Bible.
I came across this picture today. It shows a very young astronaut named John Glenn standing next to one of the early space capsules that took our brave young pilots into space for the first time. He is in the company of President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy. For those too young to remember, those were heady days filled with excitement, energy, enthusiasm and pride.
Everyone connected with education knows that No Child left Behind has changed the world od education dramatically. Some say for better, others say for the worse. What we do know is that there is more strain on principals and teachers than ever before to meet the goals of this initiative. Even now, there is movement underway to try and modify this initiative to improve the ways in which it affects the education of our children.
