A recent study by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School found that when students were asked to respond to a question by raising their hands, the majority of them tended to vote with the herd. However, if students were using clickers to record their responses anonymously, there was less of a tendency to respond in a … Continue reading The Herd Mentality Is Alive and Well in College Classrooms →

McKinsey&Company, the global consulting firm, just came out with a list of its most popular articles for the year from the McKinsey Quarterly. One of the articles in particular caught my attention, "How to separate learning myths from reality", by Artin Atabaki, Stacey Dietsch, and Julia M. Sperling. The authors examine what they refer to as … Continue reading Separating Learning Myths from Reality →

The Wall Street Journal had a few stories today about exercise, but two stories in particular caught my eye. The first story was about a new type of exercise training that originated in Japan known as Kaatsu. One of its selling points is that it allegedely offers better results in less time and with less … Continue reading An Exercise Program Worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize? →

Since 2006, the Killers have released an original Christmas song/music video each year, with the profits going to support the Product RED campaign to end AIDS. The song is usually released around December 1 each year to coincide with World AIDS Day. I must admit that I was not aware of this annual tradition by the … Continue reading The Killers: 10 Years of Original Christmas Songs →

Ultracrepidarianism: the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge. I had never heard of this word before tonight, but I came across it while reading Think Like a Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, of Freakonomics fame. I'm not very far into the book, but like their previous books, … Continue reading Ultracrepidarianism →

I recently came across an article written last year by Lisa Wade, a professor at Occidental College. The title of the article was "10 Things Every College Professor Hates", and it looked at what some of the top complaints that college teachers have about their students. While I have seen most, if not all, of … Continue reading 10 Things I Love about My College Students →

To celebrate the holidays, Microsoft employees, who were selected from across the country, gathered together, meeting each other for the first time, at the new Microsoft 5th Ave Store to spread some holiday wishes. Joined by a local NYC children's youth choir, they share a message of peace and harmony with their neighbor down the … Continue reading Are There Hidden Meanings Behind the Great Christmas Commercial from Microsoft? →

St. Francis de Sales School motivates students to be stewards of peace in their community and moral leaders of tomorrow. Responding to the needs of the community has been the mission of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Elementary School for over 100 years.  Located in West Philadelphia, St. Francis de Sales has always had an … Continue reading The Peace Table →

It doesn't happen often, so when it does, I thought I'd let the world know (or at least the seven people who will read this). Reader's Digest had a story in its October issue titled, "You’re Hanging Your Toilet Paper Wrong, And Here’s The Patent To Prove It". The story claimed to finally give the … Continue reading Toilet Paper and Parking →

I remember the  first time I saw the original version of this commercial, I immediately liked it and would then sing along with it every time I saw it on TV. I think I still know all the words (there's not that many!). The commercial went on to be considered one of the greatest TV … Continue reading A Favorite Childhood Christmas Commercial →