Living Routes: The Power of Practical Education

Posted on October 29, 2010 by zoeweil

Last week I was a keynote speaker at the ESTIA Peace Conference and had the opportunity to hear another keynote by Daniel Greenberg, executive director of Living Routes, an organization that offers college students the opportunity to study abroad in eco-villages around the world. I loved this humane education opportunity – a chance to spend [...]

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Taxes: What’s the MOGO (most good) Choice?

Posted on October 27, 2010 by zoeweil

A number of years ago, a friend proudly told me about how she kept certain income from the government in order not to pay taxes. Her assumption was that I would find this admirable because our government was using a hefty share of our tax dollars for unethical wars. Like her, I oppose such wars. [...]

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Class Desks as Office Cubicles

Posted on October 25, 2010 by zoeweil

In response to my blog post, “What Will Future Generations Condemn Us For? How We Educate Our Children,” educational visionary and activist Kirsten Olson shared this: “Yesterday my husband was observing an elementary classroom in a nearby state. The children in this room, aged 7-8, were sitting in desks lined up in rows, and the [...]

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Do You Think About the Future?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by zoeweil

Michael Chabon wrote a thought-provoking essay, “The Omega Glory,” (pdf) which is featured on the Long Now Foundation website. The Long Now Foundation “hopes to provide counterpoint to today’s ‘faster/cheaper’ mind set and promote ‘slower/better’ thinking… to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.” Chabon’s essay asks us whether and how [...]

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Life Is Short. Stretch Your Boundaries

Posted on October 20, 2010 by zoeweil

This summer my son started CrossFit training, an intensive workout approach that amazed me. I watched one morning as he and a friend set a timer and for 15 minutes did repetitions of the following: 5 pull-ups 10 push-ups 15 sit-ups After the 15 minutes were over they’d done 45 pull-ups, 90 push-ups and 135 [...]

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Getting Behind the Meat of the Matter with Gristle

Posted on October 18, 2010 by zoeweil

I had the opportunity to meet Moby – an awesome musician – when he was playing a benefit concert at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary following a MOGO workshop that I had facilitated earlier that day. It was such a treat to meet one of my favorite artists and fellow activists, and we exchanged books. [...]

Filed under: animal protection, books, consumerism, food and diet, oppression | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

My Overflowing Garden

Posted on October 15, 2010 by zoeweil

Last weekend I faced the reality of my garden. I had food enough to feed a village, at least if the menu was zucchini and cucumbers. My husband and I gathered boxes and baskets, and after several back breaking trips filled his car to take them to the food pantry after offering some to his [...]

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Otter Bog Blog #2: Finding Treasures in the Moment

Posted on October 13, 2010 by zoeweil

    My husband and I headed off to Otter Bog on a crisp fall Saturday that followed a series of rainy days. We went in search of a chicken-of-the-woods, our favorite edible shelf mushroom that we often find after rains in autumn. The woods were full of mushrooms, including a giant puffball (whose time [...]

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Thinking in School?

Posted on October 11, 2010 by zoeweil

In a recent Huffington Post essay, Eric Maisel presents an argument for adding thinking to school . His idea is simple. Carve out 45 minutes each day for students to ponder big (age-appropriate) questions, write down their thoughts, and present them if they wish. I like this idea, and I would take it further. Readers [...]

Filed under: creativity, critical thinking, education, humane education, learning, third side thinking | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Making the World Better Through Education

Posted on October 8, 2010 by zoeweil

Jim Haas has written a powerful and crucial essay, “Question of Values: Are We Learning for Earning—or for Living?” in Education Week. Here is an excerpt to whet your appetite to read more: Vartan Gregorian, the master educator and president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has spoken of liberal education as “the soul [...]

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