Author: Patrick Larkin

I have been in school leadership for over 25 years. I feel blessed to be an educator. I have had the good fortune of working as an English teacher, an Assistant Principal, a Principal, and an Assistant Superintendent in three districts in MA. I am also proud to be an IDEAS Instructor working with educators across the state and region who are part of schools and communities that promote anti-bias, anti-racist education.

Susan Cain’s Great Website To Support Introverts

On By Patrick LarkinIn Introverts, Quiet, Susan CainLeave a comment

Susan Cain launched a website this week to support her ongoing efforts to support the “Quiet Revolution” she started with her book Quiet.  In case you are unfamiliar with her work, Cain has done some groundbreaking work to change the perception that individuals are either introverts or extroverts. The reality, as Cain details, is that it is much more complicated than that.

In addition, for those of us who work in schools, Cain’s work is important in helping us find ways to support students who may be more reserved. The website has a section dedicated to supporting kids and some great reading material for teachers and parents including the following:

There are also sections to support adults and in the workplace and in their personal lives.

So, I encourage you to check out this new website and add the book (Quiet) to your summer reading list.  At the very least check out Cain’s TED Talk, The Power of Introverts, below!

Research Shows That Twitter Can Help Generate Better Ideas

On By Patrick LarkinIn TwitterLeave a comment
Twitter
Twitter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MIT’s Sloane Management Review published an article Tuesday that highlighted the value of building a diverse network on Twitter.  Researchers looked at members of five different organizations over a five year period and came up with some interesting insights:

“New research suggests that employees with a diverse Twitter network — one that exposes them to people and ideas they don’t already know — tend to generate better ideas…

…However, Twitter activity and size measures (such as the number of tweets, number of followers and number of people followed) were not correlated with personal innovation…

…In particular, two activities emerged as being significantly correlated with increasing individual absorptive capacity and personal innovation: “idea scouting” and “idea connecting.”…

…Use Twitter to become an idea scout. Several employees described Twitter as a “gateway to solution options” and a way to obtain different perspectives and to challenge one’s current thinking…

…Use Twitter to be an idea connector. Several employees mentioned how important it is to have a strategy for sharing Twitter content with the appropriate internal stakeholders. They described their roles as listener, curator and alerter…”

My Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (May 31, 2015)

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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Thinking About My "College Bound" Children

On By Patrick LarkinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
As a parent of three children, one of whom is about to enter his senior year of high school, I continue to have concerns about what pathway is best for him to prepare for his life beyond the walls of an educational institution. While comments from people questioning the relevance of a college education are nothing new, there are more and more bleak stories highlighting the plight of college graduates who start their lives in tremendous debt.

Brittany Bronson touched upon this yesterday in an Op-Ed in the New York Times titled Long Odds in the Game of Life:

“…underemployment is a national phenomenon; as many as 22 million Americans fall into the category. Once considered a rite of passage, it now extends later into the average graduate’s working life, and the longer it lasts, the greater threat it poses. The more low-skill work we compile on our résumés, the less likely we are to convince employers we’re qualified for something else…For today’s college graduates, the path to underemployment begins early…”


 Add in this from Seth Godin today:


“Does a college degree confer the ability to choose, to open the door to find a way to matter?…The education system continues to head in one direction, but each day, more of those it proclaims it seeks to serve (students, parents, taxpayers) are realizing that the system ought to be doing something quite different. And differently.

With two more children following my son down the traditional pathway, I am wondering what the realistic alternatives are.  They have all grown up in a family where college is the expectation and older cousins have gone off and followed the “traditional” model.  I am struggling to find a balance to explain the reality to my oldest child in regards to the changing landscape of employment without being a major downer. In the past, it seemed college acceptance was always a huge reason for jubilation that would lead a conscientious student to some solid career opportunities. 

Now, who knows?

My Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (May 24, 2015)

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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Don’t Miss The BEF Road Race on Sunday, May 31

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 On Sunday, May 31, 2015 the Burlington Education Foundation (BEF) is holding their 11th Annual “Exercise for Education” 5K Road Race and ½ Mile Family Fun Run at Burlington High School .  Check-in for the event begins at 8:00am with the Family Fun Run beginning at 9:00am, followed by the start of the 5k which begins promptly at 9:30am.

Please visit BEF’s website for more information on the activities as well as online registration. All pre-registered participants are guaranteed a free t-shirt. NEW This Year – Chip Timing! – with instant results. 

Run, Walk, Volunteer or join us as a spectator! Don’t miss out on this great community event or the chance to win a Grand Prize Raffle!!

BEF’s Mission is to channel donations from businesses and individuals to provide Burlington educators with an additional source of funding for creative and innovative curriculum enrichment programs.  Help us make a difference in the Burlington Public Schools!

Burlington Public Schools Co-Hosting EdSurge – Learn Launch Tech For Schools Summit June 12 and 13

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Burlington Public Schools is happy to join Boston, Revere, Natick, and Cambridge as one of the hosts of the first EdSurge-Learn Launch Tech For Schools Summit in June. We are looking forward to connecting with educators from around the region at this FREE event. Please check out the details below and share the information with other educators and educational leaders! You can register for the conference at EdSurge.com.
https://www.edsurge.com/summits/edsurge-learnlaunch-tech-for-schools-summit-2015/overview
https://www.edsurge.com/summits/edsurge-learnlaunch-tech-for-schools-summit-2015/overview
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My Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (May 17, 2015)

On By Patrick LarkinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

As We Await His Suspension, Thoughts On The Vilification of Tom Brady

On By Patrick LarkinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment


New England Patriots at Washington Redskins 08...
New England Patriots at Washington Redskins 08/28/09 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have I mentioned that I was a sportswriter before I was a teacher? While I am very happy to have changed paths,  I have an urge to share some #deflategate thoughts.   I guess I’ll file it in the area of local history…

We learn a lot about a person when they are under fire so it has been interesting to see how Tom Brady has handled himself during this time where his reputation is being called into question. I believe his silence since the Wells Report went public is the only response that makes sense. There is nothing he could say that would sway his critics or his supporters.

My opinion is that this has little to do with Tom Brady and more to do with the NFL and the public perception of the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell. Both Goodell and the NFL have been lambasted for the handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse situation and other domestic issues since. There were even those who thought the handling of the situation would cost the Commissioner his job.

There is nothing that would earn Commissioner Goodell a bigger PR boost in every NFL city outside of New England than a harsh penalty for Tom Brady and the Patriots.  In a day and age where nothing is more important than the court of public opinion,  Patriots fans should brace themselves for the worst.

The excerpts below From ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss outline exactly why the only possible motive that makes sense for the NFL is that they are in search of a much-needed PR Boost:

“I truly can’t believe what the commissioner has done to the legacy and reputation of one of the greatest quarterbacks and ambassadors in the history of the game — all over air pressure in a football and without definitive proof he had anything to do with it.”

Other similar situations regarding the handling of footballs by other NFL teams from Reiss:

The conclusion from Reiss is exactly where I am at:

“Put the three situations together and only one requires a full-fledged investigation that will cost owners millions of dollars? In the interest of fairness, what am I missing?” 

Why Are We Always Looking For A Disclaimer?

On By Patrick LarkinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

 Great stuff from Seth Godin’s Blog today!

“When someone asks, “Do you have any case studies and rules of thumb from my industry about how someone in precisely the same circumstances did x and got y,” it’s pretty clear that they seek reassurance and a promise of certainty.

 But all the good stuff comes from leaping. From doing the things that might not work.”

I think of so many instances where this applies… Of course, the one thing that sticks out to me here is that no one is in “precisely the same circumstance” as we are. All we can do is take all of the information available to us and make a well-informed decision.  Isn’t doing our due diligence enough? Why do we worry so much about failure instead of relishing what we will learn from taking a leap?