Category: HeightsCast

Our students and sons start learning the moment they set foot on campus. Every time we greet a boy in the hallway, we are teaching him. Every time we are late to class, we are teaching him. Tone is a powerful teacher, and Alvaro de Vicente shares his thoughts on how to foster a positive tone, both at school and at home. Your students will forget 90% of what you teach them, but will likely recall 90% of the tone you set. For schools, and school leaders, a good tone…

Tom Longano spends an episode unpacking his recent webinar on how to anchor summer reading in leisure. Can a 3rd grader actually achieve this? Yes. How? Listen in.

American boys are failing to keep pace with their mathematical peers internationally. Our test scores aside–and we are skeptical of attempts at standardized measurement–there is the deeper problem of many boys hating math and failing to learn the skills they need for professional success, and the habits of mind needed to fully appreciate reality. Heights math teacher, Dave Maxham explores the causes for this visceral reaction that so many boys have. He sums it up in four causes: the problem of standards, the problem of common core (concepts vs. algorithms),…

Heights teacher, Joe Breslin, discusses the problems with the contemporary approach to writing, and offers his strategy for raising craftsmen of letters.  By turning your classroom into a workshop, you can engage your boys and train them in the arts of observation and effective communication. Resources Mentioned in Podcast: Joe Breslin’s webinar on The Heights Academy: Writing From the Sentence Up

Lower School Head, Colin Gleason, continues a discussion with Tom Cox and Austin Hatch on Prudence, as presented by Josef Pieper. Often we understand this virtue as nothing more than a cunning tactic, when in reality, prudence is far more. The virtue encompasses a capacity for silence, an understanding of reality, and an ability to make right decisions. Prudence is a virtue for the magnanimous. Listen in to learn more. Resources Mentioned in Podcast: The Four Cardinal Virtues, Josef Pieper Phaedo, Plato Little Women, Louisa May Alcott Summa Theologica, St….

Find out why Dr. Mehan believes that “a healthy politics requires a healthy poetics.” He discusses the importance of poetry in the formation of leaders. It’s not all fun and games, at The Heights, when our boys are memorizing. They are both memorizing and readying themselves for prudential statesmanship. Dr. Mehan pulls it all together for us, and offers an introduction to his forthcoming book:  a children’s poetry book that Hamlet should have read. To preorder your M5, visit: www.mythicalmammals.com Also, you can follow Dr. Mehan on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/MTMehan

Lower School Head Colin Gleason leads a discussion with Tom Cox and Austin Hatch on Prudence, as presented by Josef Pieper. Often we understand this virtue as nothing more than a cunning tactic, when in reality, prudence is far more. The virtue encompasses a capacity for silence, a understanding of reality, and an ability to make right decisions. Prudence is a virtue for the magnanimous. Listen in to learn more. Resources Mentioned in Podcast: The Four Cardinal Virtues, Josef Pieper Tell All The Truth But Tell It Slant, Emily Dickinson…

Tom Longano and Pat Love run a successful drama program for lower and middle school boys at The Heights. With their play coming up next week, they discuss the founding of The Tower Fools, what makes an effective show and what the fruits of drama are to the young liberal arts mind–and their audience.

Psychologists and social commentators are decrying the high levels of stress experienced by the typical American teen. By most reports, more than half of teens are suffering from excessive stress, and many of those young people are prone to slip further down this path into anxiety and depression. Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente draws on his decades of experience as a teacher and mentor to unpack some of the reasons why boys nationwide are “stressed-out.” Turns out many of the factors are well within our parental control.

 The prose is beautiful, but sometimes we gloss over the full impact of the Bard’s writing. Join Mr. Joe Bissex and a few of his students for a discussion of what students can learn from a well-led production of Macbeth.