Film Recommendation! Something Borrowed

Filmed in NYC, this romantic comedy has a very important lesson: sometimes we "borrow" a relationship...we don't know anything exists that is actually more powerful/authentic, convenience, flattery, boredom, status quo/expectations, to please someone else/not hurt an other's feelings.

Darcy borrows...Dex borrows...Rachel allows everyone to borrow from her, until she gets how wrong that becomes for everyone involved.  All Palladio Big Sisters have several options this upcoming week for c-viewing and debriefing re use of this film as a resource with your little Jane Eyre sisters.  Consortium and Council Circles have posted reflections and responses and suggestions for your facilitation.

Please, see their websites for further information.

Calling All Global Parents for Applications

Dear Stakeholders!
Our school community is accepting applications now for membership on the R&D Council.  Mail applications to sb2822@columbia.edu.  Parameters for the MICROLAB follow in a letter to Friends: 


Friends,

I commend your leadership team for writing a clear and specific set of recommendations that seem well-linked to the data (I did not read the original report, nor of course seen the actual data, nor been privy to how the data was gathered). What I recommend to you is a most effective model that fosters collaborative on-going research and clinical practice by all stakeholders (faculty, administration, parents, and students):

1. request a team assembled of all stakeholders (students, parents, teachers, administrators: only those intimately engaged with classroom learning and instruction)
2. this team sets up a Clinic Classroom (CC) designed to model positive/cooperative practices by each population of the stakeholders
3. the content of the classroom might be a course in study skills (pertinent to any content course)
4. any teacher or administrator can use CC to model pedagogy (preceded by a brief written proposal/interview with team's "OK") 
5. any student can offer to participate in the planning, design, learning experience (preceded by a brief written proposal/interview with team's "OK")
6. any parent, community adult, student, or teacher can observe CC practices (preceded by a brief written proposal/interview with team's "OK")
7. CC would also provide any stakeholder an opportunity to gather students, design curriculum, and select pedagogy to experimentation/revision/instructional learning on an on-going basis.
8. CC can begin small and grow organically as needed (i.e. take place during he lunch period times to allow for the greatest number of teachers and students to participate/create the CC climate and content 
9. CC becomes then a kind of MICROLAB for collaborative study of all stakeholders by all the stakeholders ...thus fostering unity, on-going research, and the truth about education:a collaborative process among all the stakeholders, rather than a "hierarchy" public education must acknowledge the essential interdependence among each stakeholder population, and that any human endeavor improves only overtime with concerted efforts that design-deliver-disassemble-design to deliver again!  
10. Education is all about learning and updating.  The human climate must welcome risk-taking, respect for each, on-going dialogue and development of all stakeholders. It must be free of bureaucratic controls.