While I might be coming down to the wire on actually calling this a “Friday” 4, I hope that you do not think that the late hour suggests a dearth of items have crossed my radar screen this week…quite the contrary! 

• The first item this week is actually a 2-fer. A pair of blog posts from the Edutopia website on the topic of grading practices. The first of the posts, When Grading Harms Student Learning, explores some hot-button issues when it comes to grades and grading. The follow-up post, Do No Harm: Flexible and Smart Grading Practices, offers a few more specifics about the topics broached in the first piece.
• 7 Surprising Facts About Creativity, According to Science includes some items that tie in nicely with this year’s school theme of Mind Over Matter. Another item that might be nice to share with advisees.
• Got two hours to kill? If so, there was a show that recently aired on NOVA titled School of the Future that is worth a look. The show explores how the “new” science of learning can/should influence the educational system at large and the individual classroom.
• I am including this last item a little bit sight unseen, but am confident that the content will be worthwhile. A friend and colleague of mine that many of you may know, Kevin Mattingly, is one of the lead intructors in a MOOC that will be starting on November 2nd. Kevin is one of the founders of the Mountain School, formerly taught at Lawrenceville and among other things, is one of the instructors in the PRMT program. The MOOC is The Science of Learning – What Every Teacher Should Know and will run for 4 weeks. If you have never participated in a MOOC, this would be a great one to try. Can’t beat the cost….FREE!

Enjoy Founders Day and have a wonderful weekend!