Month: January 2013

The technology industry talks a lot about: “fail early; fail often.” It’s a mantra in software development that I think is closely related to innovation and growth.
Through the lens of Latin class, I think it might be related not only to innovation and growth, but also to stress and expectations.

Definitely worth a read.

UPDATE: Two more perspectives to share with you that I heard this weekend:

• “FAIL” — First Attempt In Learning
• And finally my favorite take on it: just change the conversation. Let’s not talk about “failure” and “success” anymore. Let’s talk about play:

Do kids who go to Montessori school think of themselves as Failures when their blocks don’t quite fit together? I doubt it. 

Click here to read more of this great article.

I arrived in Latin class a few minutes late this morning. It was intentional: I wanted to make sure I was the last person there. I planned on making an entrance.

“Good morning, everyone!” as I walked into the room filled with Advanced Latin Literature students. They were not prepared for what I was about to say next, but I didn’t even need to finish my sentence. “Allow me to introduce you to–”

Although they had never met her before, the class recognized Ronnie Ancona at sight. They burst into cheers and gasps of delight and surprise. Perfect, I thought. Just the kind of entrance I was hoping to make!

Continue reading “A surprise visit”

David Kelley is the CEO of an amazing company called IDEO and he is an inspiration for a lot of the work that STEAM does at FCS. I invite you to check out this 13 minute video that 60 minutes did about him, and while you’re watching — keep an eye out for empathy in his line of work.