Head's Up, Kathleen McNamara

Harvard Business Review: Why Diverse Groups Feel uncomfortable and perform better…

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

This is a food for thought as we navigate our ever increasingly diverse world and create leadership for the 21st Century.

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, diversity, education, Harvard Graduate School of education, Harvard's Caring Schools Initiative, HBS, Seven Hills School Walnut Creek, social emotional learning | Tagged cultural competency, diversity, education, educational leadership, seven hills school walnut creek | Leave a comment

Teaching children NOT to hate when there is so much hate in this election cycle…

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

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Lots to digest here as we navigate this election. Our middle schoolers were assigned the debate as homework, and I felt I needed to watch and be familiar with the content. I found it hard to watch. I look forward to hearing our students’ thoughts and opinions about what they heard…

How to promote kindness during an unkind election season

Posted in 21st Century Skills, body image, washington post | Tagged education, election 2016, seven hills school walnut creek, washington post | Leave a comment

Empathy and Kindness, now more than ever…

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

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How to foster empathy and kindness in children

This article in the Washington Post is timely as we help children navigate not only their own relationships, but watch the tenor of the presidential election this fall, and sometimes even get a sense of some of the vitriol being broadcasted across all media!

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, adolescent development, adult development, childhood development, Making Caring Common at Harvard, mindfulness, parenting, resilience, Rick Weissbourd, Seven Hills School Walnut Creek | Tagged #sevenhillsempathy, #sevenhillsschoolwalnutcreek | Leave a comment

Postscript Japan 2016

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

For the better part of July and August I have let the Japan experience marinate in my mind. There were so many special moments with students, between students, among the adults, even through some pretty substantial language barriers. As we prepare to open the 2016-17 school year, we are making plans to be intentional both about hosting the next crop of Kita City visitors, but also about how to shift our visit to Japan so that the incredibly rich learning experience comes back to campus and our larger community. Lots of interesting conversations are taking place. More to follow…

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, Japan, leadership, leadership in children, Seven Hills Japan Trip 2016, Seven Hills School Walnut Creek, social emotional learning, the science of emotion | Tagged #sevenhillsjapan2016 | Leave a comment

Japan Day #14 Tokyo tour and then long flight home…

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

The morning had us bidding farewell to host families and Kita City educators. It was a bittersweet farewell. Then we were off to see a few more sites:

The Meiji Shrine (a Shinto Shrine)

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The Edo Tokyo Museum

and one final Buddhist temple, Naritasan:

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Then we were off to the Narita airport, some very long immigration lines, a hop on the plane and and nine hours (and one red eye later) we were home to SFO and families greeting us!

Stay tuned for a Post-Script!

Japan Day #13 school day and farewell assembly

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Students went to school today with their hosts and then we all met at the Kita city offices today for our Farewell Assembly with the host families.

During the day the chaperones had the chance to visit the Tokyo Sky Tree and have a little fun seeing the city from amazing heights. Yes, it was clear, but not quite clear enough to see Mt. Fuji.

We agreed that watching the window washers on the outside of the sky tree made us recalculate what it means to “work” for a living.

On to the farewell assembly… one last version of the school song:

Lots of speeches and farewells; Jacob and Lauren did a great job. I did give the beginning portion of my speech in Japanese! Huzzah! It was a lovely closing!

The we took our leave and students had one final night with their families.

Chaperones had one final dinner and a small visit to a local karaoke establishment. What’s a trip to Tokyo without Karaoke?

No evidence of this visit, but definitely a renewed respect for Gladys Knight and the Pips has been reborn…

One last day of touring Tokyo!

That’s all for now…

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, Seven Hills School Walnut Creek | Tagged #sevenhillsjapan2016 | Leave a comment

Day 12 Part #2 Chaperone escapades…

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

So on Sunday, some of the chaperones saw some of Tokyo’s sites: Disneyland and a visit to one of Tokyo’s many animal cafés. In this case, an owl café.

Japanese manicures…

and the owl café…

to be continued…

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, Japan, Seven Hills Japan Trip 2016 | Tagged #sevenhillsjapan2016 | Leave a comment

Day #12 Free Day!

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Students spent the day with their host families. The chaperones explored the sights and sounds of Tokyo. Navigating the railway system, people watching and understanding just how vertical Tokyo is was all part of today;s education.

I found myself feeling quite uncomfortable navigating the city alone when I started out yesterday afternoon, but by this evening, I felt much more at ease with the “not knowing” aspect of being in a new place. Tokyo is densely populated, some sections are very loud and the railway system and subway systems can seem like an endless maze, but, really, once the senses adjust, it is as navigable as any other city.

It is easy to get overstimulated by lights and sounds, the pulsing beat of music blaring in different areas, the visuals that feel “Time Square-like” in lots of areas, and the vertical and horizontal miles of shopping. That combined with the gardens and temples and art and landscapes are all part of the experience.

Submerged in a new culture, learning happens at every level, from the very superficial, to the deeply visceral. It’s interesting and overwhelming and so enjoyable, in a kind of dizzying rotation.

More tomorrow as we have a free part of the day and then meet up with students and host families for our farewell assembly tomorrow afternoon.

I will be giving at least a portion of my farewell speech in Japanese. Just how much remains to be seen.

Sayonara for now…

Posted in 21st Century Skills, Japan, Seven Hills Japan Trip 2016 | Tagged #sevenhillsjapan2016 | Leave a comment

Japan Day #11: morning in Iwai and then…

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Back to Kita City and host families for the next two days…

Sleeping in a traditional Japanese hotel on tatami mats and futons, we were awakened to the sounds of pounding rains, thunder and lightening. A very stormy morning outside.

We did some indoor gymnastics (morning exercise), then breakfast, then fun and games and performance practice for the farewell assembly.

Bus ride back to Tokyo and students are back with their families again…

Sunday is a free day with host families and then they attend classes all day with their host students on Monday. We will gather as a group one final time for the farewell assembly on Monday afternoon. Our time in Japan is winding down, but there are so many impressions to process and think about as we get ready to return…

Posted in 21st Century Skills, Uncategorized | Tagged #sevenhillsjapan2016 | Leave a comment

Japan Day #10: half day school visit, then IWAI

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

The morning was spent at our various schools having one more visit. Some groups had assemblies and did performances; others took classes and learned more about language and culture. Volleyball, group dances, origami, tea ceremonies and delicious school lunches.

Jon Copeland’s quote of the lunch hour:

This is way better than choice lunch!

Lunch has been a little different at each school. Today was rice with Sunn Ma, a very moist grilled fish, miso soup, pickled salad, milk and an apple jello-like dessert. These are lunches made on site by kitchen staff; each day . They are healthy and delicious!

We arrived in IWAI late afternoon. We are about 90 minutes from Tokyo by the sea. This is a traditional Japanese hotel and very beautiful. We had a delicious curry meal prepared by the students and then had the option of a traditional Japanese bath.