Mindfulness practices in the schools seem to be thriving, with millions of kids being introduced to it in one form or another.  Along with its popularity, there’s been some push-back from parent groups about whether or not mindfulness violates the separation of church and state.  While it’s true that mindfulness emerged from Buddhism (in particular...Read More

As part of the kick-off for my new book Mindfulness in the Classroom: Strategies for Promoting Concentration, Compassion, and Calm, I’m going to be producing some videos which get at different aspects of mindfulness, both for adults and for children and adolescents. This first video looks at the three key elements involved in mindfulness: focus,...Read More

Hesiod was a Greek poet who lived and wrote during the time of Homer (between 750 and 650 B.C.E).  From his writings we have one of the first developmental theories, not about the individual stages of life, but rather about how humanity develops over time.  He believed there were five ages of humankind, four of...Read More

To watch a great film is to be fed aesthetically, emotionally, and intellectually.  But there are certain great films that do more:  they serve as time machines, bringing us backwards or forwards into stages of life that we have already traveled or will eventually and hopefully travel in the future.  I call these ”stages of...Read More

Educator and media critic Neil Postman once remarked that:  ”children enter school as question marks and leave school as periods.”  In other words, kindergarteners and first graders are full of enthusiasm, raise their hands high when asked a question, and respond favorably to new learning activities, but by high school, the zip is gone and...Read More