The Gift of Failure: A Reading List for You

I've just completed chapter 2 in The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey. Throughout this chapter she summarizes the argument against overparenting and I found myself creating a mental reading list as I read. Then I realized, as every middle schooler at Canterbury already knows, that this list would, of course appear in her bibliography!

Some of these are well known, others less well known, but all worth the read. However, I will provide a list here on her references in the second chapter that I think will help provide color and context to her argument. Enjoy:

1. Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation by Edward Deci, 1995
2. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, 2006
3. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, 2009
4. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger III, and Mark McDaniel, 2014

Lahey also references studies by Elizabeth and Robert Bjork on "desirable difficulties" and Anne Sobel out of Northwester University in Qatar. 

PS I find it interesting that Deci's work was published 20 years ago and we are still struggling to manage our parental instincts and work towards developing our children's intrinsic motivation and autonomy....

BIG Question: What is the Power in a Name?

Each year in the middle school we embark on a series of BIG Questions around our community and what it means to be a part of it. Today we launched our first BIG Question to coincide with the national No Name Calling Week.

The question we posed to our middle schoolers was, "What is the Power in a Name?" This week and into next we will be undertaking a series of activities and reflection activities in our advisories that incorporate the expectations of kindness and inclusiveness we espouse at Canterbury. As part of this week we are encouraging students to wear crazy socks on Thursday, November 12. This is a small way to express our individuality and to see the individuality of others while continuing to think about our Big Question: What's the power in a name?

On Wednesday, November 18, Father Finnin will wrap up the BIG Question with a Middle School Chapel at 11:35 in Phillips Chapel.