Thoughts From the Desk of Dr. Bloomfield
A recent conversation with our visiting teachers from Holland reminded me of the historical struggle between orthodoxy and heterodoxy. Let’s define orthodoxy as the belief in a singular idea as correct, and heterodoxy as the willingness to consider multiple ideas as a means of finding which is correct. Orthodoxy is comforting. I know it […]
Read More »In many ways, The Academy has the look and feel of a ma-and-pa business: we know everyone by name, we strive for comfort in our building more than polish, and we still see the children we serve as the most important consideration in every decision. We have been described as “homey” and “gritty,” and I […]
Read More »The beginning of each year is filled with so many forces: new students, new teachers, new classes. What will the new rules be? Who is on my bus? Who has changed the most from last year? We have so much on our minds that we tend to settle quickly into a rhythm or pattern just to keep moving […]
Read More »Aporia is an ancient Greek concept which has two incarnations: logical and rhetorical. Logically it is a contradictory assertion. The most famous one is “all Cretans are liars,” but this statement was spoken by a Cretan. It forces you to question whether you can believe his statement at all. The more interesting incarnation of aporia, […]
Read More »This phrase translates as “work conquers all.” It is an adaptation from the Roman author Virgil (of Aeneid fame), and has long been a mantra for me because I like to work. I always have. I like to relax too (Aristotle taught with clarity the necessity of leisure for reflection and to become an ethical person), but my heart […]
Read More »As many of you know, I teach the 9th grade Ancient History course at The Academy. As the class works its way through the ancient world, we have studied many cultures. In our current studies of the Roman Republic and our reading of the Laws of the Twelve Tables, I am reminded of the importance […]
Read More »For many years now many schools have claimed that their school fosters a strong sense of community. Indeed, the word is so replete in K-12 education that I wonder if it still has meaning. Nonetheless community is one thing you feel when you visit The Academy. It is a palpable, yet almost indescribable sensation of belonging […]
Read More »There is a good deal of noise in the field of education these days surrounding testing, both for and against it. Ever since the introduction of normative testing in the 60s, people have been critical of it, and in many way justifiably so. Then in the 90s we introduced “high-stakes” testing and there began another wave of criticism, and […]
Read More »Much has been written lately about focus as a means to achieve academic and personal success. Dr. Daniel Goleman’s book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, begins to unravel the sheer power that focus has in relation to learning and student behaviors (Dr. Goleman is a distinguished psychologist, and architect of the concept of emotional intelligence, and […]
Read More »One of the exciting elements of starting a new school year is the notion of freshness: we can start anew each year. If we struggled in writing last year, now we get a new start; if we spent a lot of time developing as an athlete but wish to try something different, we have a fresh start. […]
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