formerly CIO at The Chapin School (2002-2007) and formerly a struggling Red Sox fan and struggling Celtics fan ... no longer struggling since Red Sox/Yankees game 7 on 10/20/2004 and Celtics/Lakers game 6 on 6/17/08 ;-)
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| The Chinese character on the left stands for crisis. The one on the right stands for opportunity. An interesting observation from a friend is that crisis and opportunity have the same base. It all depends on what you do with the situation. From crisis comes opportunity. We in the educational computing world see this theme all the time: hard drive crashes, file is corrupt, disk is bad and even the entire Y2K situation. Each crisis represents a wonderful opportunity to learn and address a bigger problem. That is why some of us love when Plan A does not work, since the challenge of finding a Plan B solution is an opportunity to make good come from bad. As Henry David Thoreau once wrote "Things do not change; people change." As CIO of The Chapin School from 2002-2007, I used to walk daily by the sign that reminds me to not be afraid of change! Steve Bergen (this Web page revised 3/1/09) |
From 1975-80, I was the head of the math dept at Wooster School in Danbury,
Connecticut and continued teaching occasional computer courses. The wonderful
faculty caricature drawing on the left (click on it to magnify) was done by Renee
Williams (Wooster 81); it was recently sent via snail-mail to us by John "==>"
Cheeseman who had Lynne Schalman come back to Wooster School to conduct a one day
computer workshop. It was around 1978 (when Renee was in grade 9 and drew this
picture) when we upgraded our 8K Wang Computer (which cost $7000) to 12K of RAM
and a tape cassette drive, that another colleague, Jack Lee first got me involved
in data file programming. I was hooked! In 1979, the very summer that Larry Bird
left French Lick to come to Boston, another Larry - Lawrence
Davis - and I spent over 200 hours writing a scheduling program. We were
incredibly proud of that BASIC program that built the conflict matrix and ran
overnight, scheduling 280 students into a variety of singleton, doubleton and
tripleton courses. We had under 10 conflicts that first summer using our MAXCLUST
algorithms, far fewer than previous hand-built schedules.
In late 1980, I left teaching to join The Williamson Group in Cambridge as a programmer and consultant. I still recall my frustration and amazement helping to train staff people on word-processing, this new Data 3500 software that allowed words to wrap around the screen! Our first customers were Dana Hall School, Miss Porter's School, Emma Willard and Governor Dummer, where Ben Snyder worked in the Development Office. Our big break came with NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools, where I produced several statistical analysis software programs, again in BASIC.
In June of 1982, I was one of two teachers selected to teach a computer course for 35 Independent School Teachers in Massachusetts, co-sponsored by ISAM, Wang, Concord Academy and the Dodge Foundation. After the course, I went on vacation and read the book MINDSTORMS by Seymour Papert. I knew it was time to get involved. I gave my boss, Jim Williamson, 3 months notice and started The Teaching Company that fall, sending out 1000 flyers on an Apple IIe computer with Magic Window word processing. It was my brother-in-law (Donald Fischer, now Senior Vice President at Crum & Forster) who thougt up the name The Teaching Company when we were on vacation July 2002.
Digging back, I have found the leading paragraph that we used in advertising our computer programming courses from 1982:
"In order to promote a broad, humanistic view of computer education, we believe that teachers of all disciplines shoudl acquire basic skills of programming. To the extent that programming remains the exclusive domain of math/science teachers, we may be limiting the next generation to a narrow, technical view of computers. Fundamentally, we believe that these programming skills are accessible to everyone - scientists and poets alike."
From 1984-1994, I was a part-time math teacher, computer teacher and eventually computer coordinator at Concord Academy. In 1985, Lynne Schalman and I started doing Summercore at Concord Academy a 5 day workshop for teachers and administrators, a great suggestion inspired by Jonathan Choate at Groton School.
In 1994, I came to Nobles to work for Dick Baker and finally gave up my long-held belief that wearing dungarees and not wearing a tie to work was an important life consideration. Interestingly enough, I have still saved Dick's course evaluation from that first Teaching Company course in 1982; his writing on that evaluation was much better than his programming skills in the course!
In the summers, Lynne Schalman and I conduct teacher-training workshops both at Nobles and on the road. We started the Original Teaching Company in 1982 and conducted our first Summercore in 1985. Interesting enough, we used to conduct Summercore in June, but pushed the workshops into July to avoid conflicts with NBA Boston Celtic championship games that we experienced in 85, 86 and 87. What are the chances that we will have conflicts again!
As computers have grown up in my life over the past 15 years, I find myself with less and less time. I now love walking and a-reading books. In case you are not familiar with the word, a-read means "audio-read" in the same way that "e-mail" means electronic mail. I got my start by a-reading Winds of War and War and Remembrance, even during the Boston Marathon of 1995. Inspired by Matt Horvat, I walked the 26 miles leaving Hopkinton at 7AM and arriving at the John Hancock at 4PM.
Since then, I have a-read several other books including Exodus, Pleading Guilty, Hocus Pocus and Hamlet. While a-reading may not count as reading, it is definitely a hobby that I enjoy!
No longer do I practice the guitar, do any gardening or play chess. Instead, the intrigue of Hypercard Programming, HTML Programming and learning Photoshop and Videoshop has taken over! The only activity that so far has not diminished has been watching the Boston Celtics!
Lynne Schalman and I have written The Summercore Primer that we use in our workshops with teachers. Updating this massive resource book has been a major activity over the last ten years, although filling it with Boston Celtic signatures, metaphors and allusions makes the job less stressful. Our plans for 1998 include revising the Summercore Primer, titling it the French Lick edition!
Our two children, Sarah and Sam, were both born in interesting Boston Celtic years, 1979 and 1984 respectively. In fact, our obsession with the Boston Celtics is probably related to the lack of time we have had in lives due to computers and children. At times, we joke that our lives are a medley of c's -- children, computers and celtics. Some of the most amazing family moments of the last 10 years have involved our kids and the Boston Celtics.
Ever since my back surgery in 1992, I have become a regular swimmer, very proud of the fact that I can swim a mile in about an hour, which is a real joke compared to any real swimmer. Nevertheless, swimming several hours per week has become a regular habit and important recreational/therapeutic activity. I even convinced my neuro-surgeon, Marx Bowens, that it was hypocritical of him to advocate swimming and avoid it himself. So now he swims as well!
On Saturday, June28th, we left Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, our second Summercore of 1997; the week had gone exceedingly well, with 24 wonderful teachers making mega-progress with computer skills and conducting a superb end of week Summecore Carnival! In addition to giving us great food tips (Montgomery Inn, Graeter's Ice Cream) during the week, we found out that one of the participants (Jan) had a daughter who knew Larry Bird well. We were psyched for our one day of summer vacation planned at the French Lick Springs Resort!
The
three of us -- Sam, Lynne and me -- drove 3 hours to French Lick, Indiana.
Not only did we cross a time zone (French Lick is one hour difference from
Cincinnati), but we crossed a metaphorical one as well. The town appears out of
the 1930s with the highlight being the 5 and 10 cent store. About a mile from
town, we found Bird's original house where
he grew up and shot hoops. Once his house was sold, someone came by and swiped
the rim. We met numerous people in the town whose children had gone to school
with Larry and had wonderful stories to share. One of them involved the way that
kids at the high school who can't afford sneakers seem to magically finding them
appear, without any mention of who has been buying them!
Right in the town is the basketball court where Larry practiced and the street sign named after him. Off to the right, you can see one of the garbage trucks that Larry might have driven after leaving Indiana in the beginning of his freshman year. Finally, we drove to his new house, where he has a full sized court complete with the Celtics logo. In one of his books, he mentions how he leaves a ball on the court for visitors who are driving by. Clearly, things have changed over the last ten years, since now this is a large fence with a clear NO TRESPASSING sign.
The brick split-level house is on a large estate and clearly stands out by French
Lick standards. Larry chose to build this
house in West Baden on his grandfather's land. This is somewhat of a town
controversy, since French Lick folks felt like he was leaving his home town!
We spent less than 24 hours in French Lick,
but it was well worth it. As it turns out, the town has a national reputation for
its sulfur springs. The French Lick Springs Resort hosts hundreds of people and
employs 20% of the town. We might have been the only three that day who were less
interested in spas, golf courses and tennis courts than in seeing the old haunts
of LB!
A few months after visiting French Lick, I received in the mail on
12/1/97 a package from Tom Northrup (Hill School Headmaster, Middleburg VA,
Summercore participant from 89, fellow sciatica sufferer, great person). I knew
that Tom had played college ball for a coach who now assisted Larry Bird for the
Indiana Pacers. Never in my wildest dreams, however, did I imagine I would see
this special
autographed picture that Tom sent me!
...
hi Jen ... now it is YOUR turn to hold on yet again ;-) yes, of course I
remember you and Wylie yes, I remember the "hold on" joke and still use
it here in NYC where I teach ... no, you can't call you Mr. Bergen anymore
or else you need to require me to call you Dr. Quest-Stern ;-)
here is the scoop ... in the 1970s or 1980s, I had heard of this
technqiue used in Korea which students do math by using their fingers
...
parallel to this, I have always been fascinated by mental math tricks
and even have a site I created
which gets occasional
hits
based on your e-mail, Jen, I did some searching on the Web and found it!
www.cs.iupui.edu/~aharris/chis/chis.html
but I have NO skills
with this and never did ("true confessions of a 55 year old")
and so I used to combine the two things in my own "hick from French
Lick" style telling students that I could multiply 11 x 35 by using my
fingers or I could do 65 by 65 with my fingers
believe it or not, I STILL do the same thing on occasion with students
... I never know if they believe me or not
I also tell them that I can break a dollar in half with a pencil by
thinking of "how to factor a 2 digit number"
it is fascinating that a) you still remember that story b) you have
thought about it many times c) you actually believed that I could do the
math by using my fingers d) you are in your 30s
be well, Dr. Quest-Stern ... and maybe we will cross paths one of these
days
"Jen Quest-Stern" on Sunday, December 3, 2006 at 7:27 AM wrote: Hi
Steve, you can use any of my comments for your blog - as long as you
tell me about your chism-bop story! -Jen
Interesting enough, when I spoke with him, Jim remembered the summer of 1972 when Richard as sports editor of the Univeristy of Buffalo newspaper started a national campaign to end the Vietnam War by writing in "Jim Bouton" on the All Star ballot. Once Robert Lipsythe got wind of this and shared with Bouton, Jim ended up refusing to let his name be part of a program that had "Richard Nixon was a mass murderer" as one of its ten points.
May 30, 2009 ... In order to get a reduced price on some software ... click
May 31, 2009 ... I came across wonderfully creative and original quilts by a friend and former colleague from Wooster School (Deb Keiner) ... click
here for etsy or
here for newbostonquilter
June 1, 2009 ... I have been reading Initiation by Susan Fine and loving it ... click
June 11, 2009 ... Storefront Step Up Day ... step up in white
June 2009 ... Four Crocsk ...
click
The Best Song Ever!
A Birthday Present from Ichiro, Key and The DAC
April 2002
"Leavin' on an
Acela Train ..."
click to enlarge
All his baskets are packed he's ready to go he's standin' there on Marrett Road
... we know in time we'll have to say goodbye ...
to the DESK year yet it won't be beat we sure will miss you on Computer Street
but wish you the best at Chapin down in NYC
So KIS and smile for us Promise that you'll e-mail us Make it like you've never
ever left ...
Cause you're leavin' on the acela train Gone Monday then Friday back again Oh,
Steve -- we hate to see you go ...
Will he leave his car behind for Sam? Will he take his new watch cam? what will
we do without our favorite man? We sure will miss Number 33 What cognac moments
will there be? if the fish should die we'll name the next one Steve
So KIS and smile for us Promise that you'll visit us Don't kill Dunkin no matter
what you do ...
Cause you're leaving on the acela train Gone Monday then Friday back again Oh
Steve, we hate to see you go ...
His black jeans and sneakers you know we'll miss his crazy ties his songs and
math tricks Who will keeup us laughiiiing all day loooong? The Larry Bird doll
and Hulk Hogan too his green backpacks and "leaving a shoe" Already it's so
normal here we feel bluuuuuue ...
So KIS and smile for us Promise you'll remember us Tell those folks at Chapin
about the DAC, Ichiro and KeY
Cause you're leaving on the acela train Gone Monday then Friday back again Oh
Steve, we hate to see you go ...
Summercore Blogs 02-06
My trip to Curacao (Jan 2007)
The Other Side of Loneliness
Students from my past
Blogs of friends
click on above picture to go to www.techsaturdays.org where you can watch the actual video
Fall 2007
Spring/Summer/Fall 2008
There is no question that this job at Storefront and the collaboration with key NYC people on Tech Saturdays are keeping me incredibly energized at the age of 57 with 35 years gone by since I started teaching in September 1973. I feel blessed and lucky as I look back on the last 10 years.
Leo C. Rosten (1908-1977) once said that
"I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference
that you
lived at all." Although what I am doing is just a "drop in the ocean" I am incredibly thankful that after 30 years in wealthy independent schools, I have found a job that builds on what I have been doing but allows me to do something that is closer to the spirit of Gardner's "Good Work."
Spring/Summer/Fall 2008
Every year, he has the head of human resources conduct an evaluation of him by this team that they write up and present to the board.
Q. Let?s talk about hiring. What do you look for?
A. I value a sense of humor. I value intelligence. I value a track record. I value energy.
I value the ability to grow and learn. I value somebody who doesn?t violate what I call Rule 6.
Q. Rule 6?
A. Rule 6 is, you don't take yourself too seriously. Rule 5 is, refer to 6. And there is no Rule 1 through 4.
I really, really have a hard time getting along with Rule 6 felons.
We're all human and so we're going to be misdemeanor violators once in a while.
But I look for people who are not Rule 6 felons, because they just don?t work out.
Unique Tech Tips
Web page last updated on 3/30/09
