Bookworm - Big Ideas for Busy People

Roadtrip Nation - Define Your Own Road in Life

I am so excited about this discovery that it has jolted me out of my blogging hiatus. Turns out I've discovered a number of must-share resources recently so look forward to at least a few more posts before I get swept away with my life again!

Roadtrip Nation is an idea, book, PBS series, website and a curriculum for students.

It's a particularly great resource for high school and college students, meandering young adults in their twenties, and their worried parents!

From the website:

"So, what the heck do you want to do with your life?

We've heard this question hundreds of times from parents, teachers, principals, friends, relatives, career counselors, even the mailman. Not only do they ask that pestering question, but they provide their own answers.

"You should be a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, a teacher. Go to grad school, go to med school. Get your MBA. Go into finance. Investments! Investments are where it's at!" All these might be good ideas, but they weren't ours.

The Noise

We call all those misguided opinions "the noise." It's the noise of society trying to push, pull, and tug us "tug you" in every direction. The noise never listens to what you like and what you don't. The noise doesn't care about what you value. The noise just distracts you from building a life that's in tune with what you're passionate about as an individual.

The noise says, "You can't make money playing with model spaceships." Dennis Muren didn't listen to it. Now he has eight Academy Awards for visual effects, including one for Star Wars.

The noise says, "There's no future dressing up your friends." Arianne Phillips didn't listen to it. She became the head stylist for Madonna and costume designer on films such as Walk the Line.

Fight The Noise

You can create roads that you'll be passionate about while also making a living. You don't have to be a prisoner to a job you can't stand. You have the potential to embark on a life that you can one day look back on and say, "I was true to myself every step of the way.""

Roadtrip Nation is about finding your own road by learning from others who have found their own inspired path in life. There are video interviews with hundreds of people who are doing what they love including the following: astrobiologist, founder of The Blue Man Group, Editor in Chief with Seventeen Magazine, chocolatier, track and field coach, and a plastic surgeon. Warning - these videos are addictive!!

You can find many other resouces via the website, including a guide to conducting your own interviews with passionate people, DVDs and books.  I ordered both Roadtrip Nation books: Finding The Open Road: A Guide to Self-Production Rather Than Mass Production and Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life.

Your kids can also apply to Hit the Road on the 2011 Roadtrip Nation trip.

Finally, Roadtrip Nation will be visiting colleges this fall in the iconic green RV. See if your student's college is on the route!

Wondering why it's important for kids to figure out what they love, besides being a feel-good idea?

The world has changed. Globalization makes the world more competitive. You have a much better chance at being great at what you do (and, therefore, more competitive) if you actually love what you're doing. In a recent interview, author Dan Pink  was asked the following question:

if you were going to give somebody just one piece of advice about how to be successful in this new age, what would it be?

Dan Pink: " The best career move is to find what you love to do, what you’re great at, and pursue that. I think you will be more valuable in the workforce. If you love accounting and you’re great at it, you’re going to be okay.

I worry about the folks who pursue careers because their parents, teachers, or spouses give them outdated advice and they’re dutifully marching into careers they don’t really care about because they think it’s the way to make money. Not only is that bad for their individual self-actualization but I think it’s a bad career move, too."

"The counsel to do what you love is actually very hardheaded advice right now. It’s not just an idealistic notion. I think it’s the best way to get ahead today."

Real World Prep

I'm guiding my teenage son through a great on-line course this summer. It's called Consumer Jungle and its purpose is to teach kids some of the skills they will need to successfully navigate the real world. So far, we've looked at various housing options (apartment, room in a house, rental house, with roommates and without) on Craig's List and SeattleRental.com and he's listed the advantages and disadvantages of each. He's read a rental lease and deciphered it by recasting in his own language. Yesterday, we viewed a powerpoint on Budgets and then he took an on-line quiz. Next up is a powerpoint on Credit. The website is www.consumerjungle.net. It's perfect for high school (or even college) age kids. I've learned a thing or too myself!

My Son the Number

by Dulcie Leimbach

From last Sunday's (4/20/08) New York Times' Education Life, a must-read article for all parents of teens - click here:  My Son the Number   Some hard-won wisdom from a mom reflecting back on the college process.

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko - The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need

By Daniel H. Pink (author of my favorite book of 2007, A Whole New Mind)

Watch the trailer for this book (yes, just like a movie) and then go buy The Adventures of Johnny Bunko for every high schooler, college student, or 20-something you care about - and yourself if you're curious about how to thrive in the new economy (that's the economy and world Dan describes in A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future. More on that later.)

By the way, this book will take you between 30 minutes and 1 hour to read because it is the first US business book ever to be told in manga - you know, the Japanese comic art form. In other words, it's a comic book, full of not only spot-on wisdom and advice but wonderful characters and illustrations drawn by the talented Rob Ten Pas.

This is the PERFECT high school or college graduation gift. Besides giving your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and family friends a great toolkit to use to craft their future, you will be regarded as momentarily cool and with-it, just for knowing about such a hip book.  And those of us who are parenting teens know  - that's priceless!

Marilee Jones, MIT Admissions Director

NOTE to Bookworm by Email subscribers. I reformatted this post so that all of Ms. Jone's notes are available here, without downloading a Word document. Hope that makes reading a bit easier!  If you want to become a Bookworm by Email subscriber, see the box on the upper left. You will get an email every time there is a new Bookworm post. janet

Now to the topic!

Thanks to friend and colleague Judy Chase who went to hear Marilee Jones, MIT Admissions Director, speak at Overlake School on November 14th. Ms. Jones is also the author of Less Stress, More Success: A new approach to guiding your teen through college admissions and beyond.

The following are Judy's personal notes:

"I was a few minutes late, so the notes start from when I arrived. It is amazing to me how many themes she spoke of that echo Alexandra Robbins perspectives.

Generations Defined:

She began talking about characteristics from different generations and what that means in terms of the lens that we look at when considering situations.

Matures: Born prior to 1945. Honor, integrity, hard work ethic, many first generations who made a way for themselves, loyal and patriotic.

Baby Boomers: Born after WWII until 1964. Idealistic and Individualistic. We live vicariously through our children. We want to protect our kids and take care of them. We think our kids think and are like us when they are not. We are self centered and oriented around “us”.

Generation X: This is a very small subset of the population. Born between 1965-1978. They grew up when times were recessionary; AIDs became rampant, high divorce rates and left home alone a lot. They are pragmatic, comfortable on the internet, diversity and entrepreneurial. They don’t like fuss; want to get their work done so they can play. Quality of life is most important. Gen Xer’s are great out of the box thinkers, value diversity and very resilient.

Millennials: Born post 1979. Influenced by Columbine, 9/11, WTC. She describes them as neotraditional, ritual, optimistic, technological, adept, heavy volunteerism, very busy lifestyles, and multicultural, busy 24/7. These kids are group centered (having more likely been in daycare) they lead or follow, highly structured, over scrutinized, can’t breath, very hardworking. They like to make adults (baby boomers) happy and do a lot of their activities to “please” the adults. She says that the group is very anxious, sleep deprived, judged and tested (and tested and tested), poorly nourished (eat on the run). They sustain academic pressure, social pressure, carrying the family honor. She calls them “Human Doings vs. Human Beings”. AOL centered, need to be perfect at everything and huge parental over involvement.

Today’s kids are Millennials.

Here are some of the general characteristics of Millennials. Our kids are social at night, via IM, text messaging. They can’t sleep before 11:30pm and often go to sleep even later. We hold them up to community inspection by “honoring high achievers in the paper, and at school”. Because of high parental involvement, they are over criticized and often feel that their accomplishments are “not good enough”. They are angry at their parents for over pushing towards perfection. There is an epidemic impact on girls’ sense of self esteem and body image.

The kids’ hyper sports involvement has resulted in an increase in asthma and sports injuries. Stomach aches and headaches are more likely as well. These are all stress related illnesses.

Marilee stresses that the kids/parents should focus on THE MATCH with a particular college. This is how well they will fit with the college culture, activities, and academics. The best fit for the student is important. Parents and students should not try to change the student to fit a school but find the school that fits the student. Admissions officers want to know if you know WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT.

Typical Problems Marilee Jones encounters:

Problem #1: We are raising a generation of kids who are trained to please adults, teachers, parents, coaches, admissions officers. These kids look to the outside for affirmation and do not look internally. This should be internal; they should be reading their inner voice. Who am I? What do I think?

Problem #2: Kids are great at working together on projects but don’t seem to be as individually creative. They do not have downtime to get into their imaginations. Where are the Edisons? At MIT they value imagination, this is the paramount characteristic at MIT and unfortunately the characteristic is lost when kids don’t have time to reflect and think creatively/out of the box.

Problem #3: The collective pressure makes kids break."

 

 

Alexandra Robbins on The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids

Investigative journalist and best-selling author Alexandra Robbins visited Mercer Island High School on Monday, November 6th. She spoke to over 300 parents, staff and students, who braved the inclement weather and even chose the event over watching the Seahawks on Monday Night Football!!

MIHS Principal John Harrison opened the evening by reminding us that Mercer Island High School students, who take advantage of the myriad opportunities that are offered to them, have increasingly high expectations of themselves and put a lot of pressure on themselves. He acknowledged that "Mercer Island students face an incredible time management challenge as they prepare for life beyond high school. Our students take challenging college preparation course loads that include numerous Advanced Placement, college level, and honors course. Our students are involved in multiple student activities, athletics and performing arts. In the Mercer Island School District, high expectations apply to all areas of school life. When family time, non-school related activities, friends, religions activities, and part-time jobs are factored in, our students are incredibly time-challenged. This time management challenge can result in increased stress levels, sleep deprivation, compromise, and potentially lower levels of performance."

Both Principal Harrison and middle school Principal Sharon Gillaspie believe that, as a community, we can do a better job of managing these "competing interests." In doing so, Mr. Harrison says we can "support our students in continuing to achieve and accomplish in a way that is more conducive to continued success and healthy balance."  Alexandra's visit here was intended to kick-off a community dialogue about this very important topic.

Ms. Robbins, only 12 years out of high school herself, described her return to her alma mater, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, during the year of her 10th reunion. She was stunned by the change in atmosphere since she attended the school. The stark contrast inspired her to follow nine Whitman students for three semesters and then travel the country, interviewing students, admission directors, high school administrators, etc., to develop a picture of today's high school experience and college preparation process. She shares what she experienced and learned in her latest book The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, which is essentially an examination of today's culture to succeed and "how it has changed the high school experience so drastically in even ten years that it has startlingly altered what it means to be a student today."

To read the complete summary, Download AlexandraRobbinsMI.doc.rtf.

I also recommend reading the book! It is full of engaging stories and in-depth commentaries, and reads quickly. Not your typical non-fiction book!

Ready or Not, Here Life Comes

America’s Top Learning Expert Shows How Today’s Society Makes it Hard for Kids to Grow into Productive Adults - and What We Can Do About It.

The following is a book summary I prepared last year for a Mel Levine Book Cafe. Hope you find it useful!

Author: Mel Levine, M.D.

Background:

Mel Levine is a developmental pediatrician who has accompanied countless kids on journeys through their school years. He has witnessed their varied outcomes and now finds himself preoccupied with how and why different kids turn out so differently. He is especially concerned with kids who don’t turn out so well and wanted to know what we could have done differently for them as children and adolescents.

Issue:

According to Levine, in recent years we have faced an epidemic of career - and life - unreadiness as too many young people begin what he calls the “start-up years” unprepared for the challenge of initiating a productive life. He believes that parents, schools and adolescents themselves can all work together to improve work-life readiness.

Part I: Who is this potentially an issue for?

According to Levine, the young adults he’s known who find themselves gridlocked during the transition from high school or college to adult work have come from various directions. A lot of them, surprisingly, were impressive students - the golden boys and girls - academically successful, athletic, politically astute and attractive. Others suffered from neurodevelopmental breakdowns that made school a perpetual come-from behind battle. Many were the well-behaved and compliant kids who can meet expectations as long as they are explicitly framed.

In particular, Dr. Levine sees four predicaments that often set the stage for work-life unreadiness. The four predicaments are 1) Trapped in their teens, 2) Ones who were once revered, 3) Some who have gone astray and 4) Victims of brain neglect.

To read more:

Download ready_or_not_here_life_comes.doc

Welcome to Bookworm - Again!!

OK . . . so it's been over a YEAR since my last post. My world has been rocked by many things - books, articles, movies, conversations, speakers, websites - since July, 2005, but I've been immersed in a couple of big projects and blogging fell by the wayside.

Mel Levine was my 2005/06 big event. Author of three best-selling books, A Mind at a Time, The Myth of Laziness, and Ready or Not, Here Life Comes, Dr. Levine is one of the nation's preeminent expert on student learning. Beginning in spring 2005, I co-chaired a committee made up of parents and staff from each of the five schools in our District. We ultimately distributed about 150 of Levine's books to staff throughout the District, hosted Dr. Levine for a presentation to over 800 parents on the evening of March 14th, 2006, followed by an all-day workshop with our entire District staff on March 15th, raised over $80,000 in six weeks from the community to fund staff who wanted to attend Schools Attuned, a program for educators based on Dr. Levine's work, and ultimately hosted three Schools Attuned sessions in our community during Summer 2006. Sixty five staff, representing every school in the District, attended Schools Attuned and Mel Levine, once a relative unknown around here, has become a household word. Check out the All Kinds of Minds website for more info! Also, read the great interview with Dr. Levine on "Celebrate Strengths, Nuture Affinities" linked on the front page of the All Kinds of Minds website (All Kinds of Minds.)  It's the top item under The News and is an interview  from the September, 2006 edition of Educational Leadership Magazine.

Dr. Levine's pearl of wisdom "You build your life around your strengths and affinities" is one of my most-treasured parenting mantras.

The Homework Myth

I love author Alfie Kohn and his newest book, The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing - or at least the summary he's written (see below) - is a must read for all of us who lead homework-impacted lives.

Kids may be right after all: Homework stinks

By Alfie Kohn

With the start of the new school year, students once again are shifting impatiently in their seats, working their way through an endless pile of worksheets. And that's after they come home.

A new study confirms what kids and parents already know: The "tougher standards" fad that has American education in its grip has meant more and more homework for younger and younger children.

Several years ago, we learned that the proportion of 6- to 8-year-olds who reported having homework on a given day had climbed from 34% in 1981 to 58% in 1997 and that the weekly time spent studying more than doubled during the same period.

Last month, professor Sandra Hofferth at the University of Maryland released an update to that study. Now, the proportion of young children who had homework on a specific day jumped to 64%, and the time they spent on it climbed by a third. Homework rates for 6- to 8-year-olds are virtually equivalent to those for 9- to 12-year-olds. And let's not talk about the high school workload.

What the research shows is disconcerting. Equally important, however, is what the research doesn't show: that homework is necessary or beneficial. We reassure ourselves that it's all worth it because homework raises achievement, teaches independence and good work habits.

Remarkably, however, the data to support those beliefs just don't exist:

Learning for the 21st Century

Article by Daniel Greenberg

I recently cleaned my office and came across this article that I tore out of a 2000 issue of Paths of Learning, a now defunct magazine dedicated to progressive education. The fact that  it has survived numerous office purgings speaks volumes for its relevance.  When it finally gets down to me versus paper, I can be pretty brutal.

According to Daniel Greenberg, Arthur Andersen, the world's largest consulting firm, organized its fourth annual international conference on "Learning for the 21st Century." The conference brought together people from all over the world (businesspeople, educators, government officials, consultants, etc.) to both hear and discuss what leading thinkers had to say about what the school of the future will look like.

Greenberg was amazed by the fact that despite the diversity of the many presenters, there was "virtually unanimous agreement on the essential features of the 21st century society and the type of education that would best meet its needs."

The following features of the type of education needed for the society of the future are taken directly from Dan Greenberg's article in Paths of Learning and were also printed on the Opinion Page of the Metro-Daily News and in The Sudbury Valley School Journal, volume 29, number 6, June 2000, and retyped by moi since there isn't a digital version to be found!

• First and foremost, this century will be one of constant, rapid change. To be an effective member of society, an individual will have to be able to function comfortably in a world that is always in flux, with no long-term stable platforms, no secure havens. Knowledge will continue to increase at a dizzying rate, and people will have to be life-long learners who know how to seek out and master what they need at any given moment of their lives. This means a content-based curriculum, in which a body of knowledge is imparted to students, is entirely inappropriate as a means of preparing children for their adult roles.

• People will be faced with ever-increasing individual responsibility to direct their own lives and determine their own futures. To this end, children must grow up in an environment that stresses self-motivation, self-initiated activity, and self-assessment, and thereby provides the skills and self-confidence to map out their own destinies. Schools that focus on external motivating factors - on teaching (as opposed to learning), on top-down management, on rewards and punishment for meeting goals set by others - are denying to children the tools they need most to survive.

• Central to everyone's successful functioning in the 21st century will be their ability to communicate with others, and thereby to share experiences, collaborate, and exchange information. Conversation, the ultimate means of any communication, must be a central part of any good school. Students will have to have ample time to talk to each other and to their teachers, thus honing their skill at increasing their own insights with the help of assistance from others.

• The world is moving rapidly toward universal recognition of individual rights within a democratic society. Specifically, this signals an increase in the empowerment of each and every person to participate as an equal partner in whatever enterprise they undertake. This implies decentralization of power and the granting of full participation to every stakeholder in every institution. The implications for schools is clear: all interested parties will be given a role in running educational institutions, especially students and teachers.

• Technological advances are proceeding at an unimaginably rapid pace, and these in turn are profoundly impacting the way all people, children and adults, access information. Year by year, it is becoming easier for people to learn whatever they wish, whenever they wish, in such manner as they wish.

• New research is continually reveling that children are avid learners, that they have an immense capacity for concentration and hard work when they are passionate about what they are doing, and that the skills they acquire by pursuing any area of interest are readily transferable to any other subsequent field. Giving children more freedom to follow their own inclination keeps their joy of learning and love of challenge alive, enhancing their satisfaction in life and their ability to contribute to society.

• The bottom line of all this was clear to the Conference participants: Schools of the future will be far more democratic in structure, far more respectful of each member of the community, far more tolerant of individual variations and far more reliant on self-initiated activities than were the schools of the 20th century.