Making my way to Milwaukee
This afternoon I am off to visit Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sung-Joon Pai (founding BAA faculty member, friend, and school leader) recently introduced me to a lovely person named Christina Ratatori. Christina leads an organization called Artists Rallying Together (a.r.t.) ...
Beautiful Brandeis
Last week I did a book talk at Brandeis University’s beautiful Rose Art Museum. The faculty from the education department invited me to speak with both their graduate (MAT) students and education undergraduates. Brandeis included the book talk on their list of...
I ♥ Librarians
I recently had the privilege of being a featured author and key note presenter at a conference for the Massachusetts School Librarians Association (MSLA). I happen to admire librarians as much as I admire teachers. We are VERY fortunate at BAA to have a world-class,...
Waiting for Superman?
An outspoken public school principal has a few things to say about the new Waiting for Superman documentary…
Bringing it on Home…
The end of the school year is a time for closure for most schools. At BAA it is also time to kick off the seventh annual Summer Institute for Arts in Education, an amazing week-long professional development experience for folks interested in school change. Teachers...
Join the EdWeek Bookclub!
The Education Week's Teacher magazine has started a new interactive online book club and I am so proud that the first book to be discussed will be The Hardest Questions Aren't on the Test! In order to participate, you must be registered to the edweek.org website,...
A visit to the oldest public high school in the country!
I was recently invited to The English High School to give a talk to the faculty and staff about the themes from my book. English High School is the oldest public high school in America and is also the place I worked while I was with Fenway High School in the 1980s. I...
Notes from Helsinki
Gio Om has been analyzing my dreams from our trip to Qatar. “Are you still dreaming of women in black abayas walking down the beach, Ms. Nathan?” he queries most mornings when he sees me. A couple of weeks ago, when I was just back from Helsinki, Gio, a BAA...
Thank you Toastmasters!
A few months ago I was asked by Sherri Raftery if I would accept the Toastmasters Communication & Leadership award from the Toastmasters District 31 (which is all of Eastern MA from Worcester and Rhode Island). I had never really paid much attention to this...
And now, Helsinki!
The henna on my hands has barely dried from our trip to Doha, Qatar and now I'm off to Finland! I was invited by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, to participate in the Helsinki Design Lab: Education Challenge. This week, I'm in Helsinki, Finland where Sitra,...