Greater Good Science Center: On the fine art of gratitude
Sarah Henry, Berkeleyside, June 22, 2012

"What do you look for when measuring what a meaningful life looks like?

"We focus on the interpersonal aspects that enhance gratitude, such as positive connections and an engagement with family, friends, and the community.  Trust is important: If we’re open to trust we have opportunities for cooperation. Giving is another one — there’s fun science that shows people who are given money to spend on others rather than on themselves feel more satisfied and content than those who spend the money on themselves.

"A sense of playfulness is another: joking and gentle teasing can make us feel more grateful, as can a sense of awe, an appreciation of others, thinking optimistically, and paying attention. Research shows that we’re actually wired to share and give and take pleasure in doing so. Another study that highlights the importance of interpersonal connections looked at appropriate touch and found that basketball players who engage in positive physical contact with teammates — such as fist bumps and shoulder nudges — win more games than teams that don’t."

7 Cool Projects From Young Geniuses
Jo McClelland, Tecca / Mashable, June 21, 2012

"The amazing thing about kids is their ability to imagine possibilities. Too many times, kids are told that they can’t, not to make a mess or that they’re too young. But sometimes those messes in the garages or even their parent’s workplace might turn into something extraordinary. We found seven kids, from 9 to 19, who have already produced great things." 

Programs Combating Summer Brain Drain Could Overload Students
Kelsey Sheehy, US News, June 18, 2012

"To combat potential learning loss, schools should expand their summer school programs and students should dedicate a chunk of their summer vacation to hitting the books, the association says.

"But what about letting summer break be just that—a break?

"Summer should be a chance for students to recharge and families to reconnect, some parents and educators say.

""They've been doing this all year and they just need time to recharge their batteries and to refresh and relax," says Daniel Rothner, a former teacher and father of four who is now the founder and director of Areyvut, a nonprofit that helps Jewish youth develop social learning projects.

"The learning will happen organically while students are out enjoying their summer, Rothner says.

""Experiential learning is really where it's at," he notes. "You can learn something in math or science or geography, but it's very different from actually living it. Whether it's doing math at a baseball game ... or at the park.""

"Happy Sendoff for College Students, Many First in the Family to Go"
Rebecca Rosen Lum, BerkeleyPatch, June 12, 2012

 "Their career goals span a wide spectrum of fields, from medicine to public policy to the arts. While still in high school, they worked, tutored or participated in academic and social service efforts in addition to excelling in their coursework. Several will be the first in their family to attend college.

"And none could have done so without the help of the Berkeley Community Fund.

"The Fund is a young but ambitious organization whose purpose is to craft a bridge to college for promising Berkeley students who otherwise could not get there."
"The Fund does more than give students a financial edge, says director Laura Olivas. It provides one-on-one mentoring throughout each student’s college career. 

"What Will You and Your Children Read This Summer?"

KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times, June 6, 2012

 

"What’s your summer reading plan, and what’s the plan for your children? Two of my four have summer reading time charts from school. Will this be another year when I determine that every evening at X time will be “quiet reading time,” only to have it endlessly thwarted by things like impromptu s’mores and meteor showers? (And how can that really be bad?) I want them to read. They (mostly) want to read. But oh, we have a terrible time with those charts. 

"... Does 20 minutes a day of easily tracked reading fit into every family’s day except ours? They do read, but how many 6-year-olds pay attention to where and for how long? Me, I’ve never exactly understood why they (or, more relevantly, I) should. I prefer the rising third grader’s option: a space to list all the books she reads, along with “one thing you liked” and “one thing you didn’t.” "

"71 Oakland School for Arts grads going to college."
Chip Johnson, SF Chronicle, June 5, 201

""When you give kids a purpose, whether it's playing the piano or blowing on their saxophone, it immediately allows them to express themselves and it helps them understand the whole experience," Harris said. "Suddenly, U.S. history has meaning and students may push a bit harder for that trigonometry quiz in order to get to that music class or that play rehearsal." Among this year's graduating class of 73 students, 71 have been accepted to colleges in the fall - and the list of colleges and universities that have accepted them is impressive."

"The School of Our Dreams Might Exist"
Liz Dwyer, GOOD, June 5, 2012

"Earlier this spring respected creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson shared his vision for his dream school—a whole-child learning experience that deemphasized testing and focused on exploring ideas and integrating art and science. Robinson's not the only one advocating for such a learning environment."

"Chaltain writes on the Start Empathy blog that he may have found such a campus—Mission Hill School, a public elementary school in Boston’s low-income Mission Hill neighborhood."

"10 Surprising Ways To Choose A Great Video Game (For Your Kids)"
Shira Lee Katz, Common Sense Media, June 4, 2012

"Great games transport kids to another place. You know the signs. Brows furrowed. Thumbs zooming. Yes, you may have to set limits for games that suck time at the expense of other activities. But it's a good sign when games put kids in a state of "flow." Games that draw kids in require concentration or imagination and present challenges just beyond their comfort zone."

"Having choices can make kids feel powerful. Kids who get to decide which path to take or how to spend their virtual money often feel responsible for their fate in a game. In turn, they feel motivated. Games with lots of choices and opportunities for exploration can help kids feel ownership over the experience."

"The Benefits of Making It Harder to Learn"
James M. Lang, The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 3, 2012
 
"As the researchers pointed out in their article in the journal Cognition, both students and teachers may sometimes judge the success of a learning experience by the ease with which the learner processes or "encodes" the new information. But learning material easily, or fluently, may sometimes produce shallower levels of learning.

"By contrast, "making material harder to learn," the authors wrote, "can improve long-term learning and retention. More cognitive engagement leads to deeper processing, which facilitates encoding and subsequently better retrieval." In other words, when students encounter cognitive disfluency, and have to put in more work in processing the material, it may sink in more deeply."