Dr. Thompson flew to Dubai on February 5th to conduct faculty workshops and speak to students at the American School of Dubai. Over the course of three days he spoke to every student from fifth through twelfth grade in assemblies, he conducted three faculty workshops, and made three presentations to parents. He was also a guest on the student television network, hosted by Alexa, a terrific (and well-prepared) interviewer.
Michael Thompson, Ph.D.
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Visit to the Ontario Camp Association conference in Toronto
In mid-January I flew up to Toronto to speak to the Ontario Camp Association annual conference from my book Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grown. The combination of the words “camp” and “Ontario” has special significance for me because it was at a canoe tripping camp in that Canadian province that I first achieved a measure of the independence for which I yearned as a boy. The summer after I turned fourteen I attended Camp Keewaydin, a legendary camp on Lake Temagami, three hundred miles north of Toronto.
American School of the Hague and ISA
I have been traveling a lot this fall: three trips to California, three trips to North Carolina and one journey to the Netherlands. My trips have raised some interesting questions that I would like to share with my readers over the next few weeks.
(more…)
Workshop for School Administrators in Honolulu, Hawaii
In late July, Rob Evans and I traveled to the Punahou School in Honolulu to run a workshop for school administrators from all over Hawaii along with a couple from the West Coast. Because of Punahou’s annual Student Leadership conference was underway at the same time, Ruth Fletcher, the director of professional development for Punahou, invited their chaperones, all educators from India, China and Japan, to join our workshop. It was a challenge for us to make our examples of administrative problems from U.S. independent schools relevant for, say, a public school principal from Japan, but in the end the realities of school administration, the developmental stages of students and the nature of teachers allowed us to find common ground. (more…)
Visit to Chautauqua
I just spent two packed and exciting days at Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. I had been hoping for an invitation from Chautauqua for four or five years, ever since Kathy and Jim Pender of Cleveland suggested that I would be a good fit for the audiences there. Chautauqua more than lived up to my expectations. Is there any more enthusiastic summer learning community anywhere in America?
Separating Parent & Teen College Dreams
Dr. Thompson was interviewed by Randi Mazzella for her article about college-bound teens and their parents, and the way in which the parents have to think about their dreams and their teens’ college dreams. (more…)
