Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver and BASE jumper made history on October 14, 2012, by becoming the first man to free jump from an altitude of 127,852 feet over Roswell, New Mexico. His trip from the stratosphere back to Earth lasted nine minutes and nine seconds, with four minutes and twenty–two seconds of free falling without a parachute. This supersonic free fall was [...]
Whenever I make a pilgrimage to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), I don’t necessarily expect to be entertained. Enlightened on art and history? Sure. But I don’t plan on having a laugh over a brushstroke in a Renoir. When I recently stepped into the Edward H. Linde Gallery, however, I was met by colors and sounds that could only come from [...]
What constitutes a genius? Is it someone who can think and discover revolutionary theories, like Albert Einstein? Or is it someone who can paint and sketch legendary conceptions and ideas far beyond their time, like Leonardo da Vinci? One thing seems to be clear: Genius necessitates creativity, and creativity can be found in everyone. In schools, a creative concept called “genius hour,” an integrated [...]
As a child, I spent almost every day at the library, especially during the summer. While part of it stemmed from my addiction to reading, the main draw for me was the library’s many programs. Each summer, the library followed a theme that included a suggested reading list for all ages, fun raffle prizes and programs that ranged from the usual sing–alongs and [...]
This month’s Employee Spotlight features PSG’s VP of Sales & Business Development I have seen many changes in the industry since entering educational publishing in 1979. After teaching elementary school for five years—I was the big guy with the long hair and curly beard towering over the first and second graders—I moved to educational publishing, a typical career change for many teachers. I’ve [...]
For hundreds of years, students in the United States who didn’t quite fit the mold often received no education at all or were even institutionalized. Even after the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA or EHA) in the 1970s, many youngsters slipped through the cracks and did not receive an adequate education. Overhauls in recent years, most notably No Child Left Behind [...]
Here in America, there’s a large amount of pressure to decide at an early age what you want to do for the rest of your life. But how can people make such important decisions without any experience to inform them? Further, where can anyone get this sort of experience? Personally, I found job shadowing at PSG to be an excellent opportunity to see [...]
I have a bad habit of multitasking. I watch TV while I study, listen to music while I study, and hang out with friends while I study. Doing two things at once makes me feel as if I’m making better use of my time. But, interestingly, researchers have discovered that humans can’t actually multitask. What we call multitasking is really just quickly switching [...]
With the push to expand focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in curricula, there have been worries that the arts will be left behind. The notion of adding the arts into STEM has been floated around, with many educators considering “STEAM” over STEM. In 2012, John Maeda, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), announced his initiative, which [...]
I’ve never considered LinkedIn to be within the wide spectrum of social media. It has a visible sense of purpose and credibility that other forms of social media, like Facebook and Instagram, lack. However, as a means for people to publicly interact, LinkedIn works using the same format as these other outlets by allowing users to follow/friend/connect with other users—unless their profile is [...]