The Seasons are changing….are you?

Technically today is the last full day of summer with fall officially beginning on Saturday, September 22, 10:49 A.M. EDT, the fall equinox. While it may still technically be summer (translated – “vacation”) as I write this week’s Friday Four, it feels as if we have been in school for quite some time already and that the fall term is well under way. To celebrate the astronomical beginning of fall and the beginning of the school year, I have put together a Friday Four that includes some “big picture” items that I hope you will mull over while the “newness” of the school year is still palpable.

• Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) is a nationally recognized educational writer and outspoken critic of homework, competition and rewards in schools. He has had a piece appear on the back page of the Ed Weekly Journal every September for nearly 20 years. This year’s piece “Schooling Beyond Measure” explores the fascination/obsession with using data-based measures of assessment.
• One of the fellow educators I follow on Twitter and whose blog I read regularly is Brian Bennett (@bennettscience), a science teacher from Indiana. He recently posted a piece on his blog called “Three Questions” in which he describes a conversation he had with a colleague that led to what they saw as the 3 core questions we can/should be asking our students. I found the post inspiring and hope you will as well.
• NPR recently aired a piece titled “Teachers’ Expectations Can Influence How Students Perform” that explores the significant role that bias plays in teacher expectations for students.
• Starting this weekend (September 23) NBC News is hosting their 3rd annual Education Nation Summit in NYC. They have a website dedicated to the year-round initiative that is loaded with great resources, news and opportunities to be a part of the conversation about education in the US and the world.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. Have a wonderful first day of Fall!