Charlie DePascale “If the body be feeble, the mind will not be strong. The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is best.” – Thomas Jefferson The third week of 2017 has come to an end, and my New Year’s Resolution to improve my fitness level is off toContinue reading “New Year’s Resolutions”
Category Archives: Life
A Month of Goodbyes
Charlie DePascale Every baseball fan knows that October is a month to say goodbye – goodbye to another baseball season, goodbye to summer, and goodbye to another year. This year the Red Sox season ended rather abruptly on Columbus Day as the Sox were swept out of the playoffs by the Cleveland Indians. Whether theContinue reading “A Month of Goodbyes”
In the blink of an eye
Charlie DePascale Last month, I attended my 35th college reunion, where my classmates optimistically and encouragingly still were focused on looking forward (who we will be when we grow up and how we will change the world) rather than on looking back. One of the first events I attended at the reunion was a townContinue reading “In the blink of an eye”
Interval Scales, Unicorns, and Non-stick Pans
Charlie DePascale There are certain things that you hear about for the first time and with all your heart you want them to be real. Although your brain tells you to be skeptical, you desperately want those things to exist and to have the magical powers that people ascribe to them. For me,Continue reading “Interval Scales, Unicorns, and Non-stick Pans”
Is that all there is?
One of the benefits of giving up a late Sunday afternoon to travel to the site of my Monday morning meeting is the opportunity to leisurely read the newest edition of the Late Late Bell from the Fordham Institute. Last Sunday, as the Amtrak Northeast Regional rumbled toward Providence, I read the following in theContinue reading “Is that all there is?”
This Is My Fight Song
Arizona, Connecticut, and a fuchsia wristband Charlie DePascale Last weekend I attended a concert in Boston with my daughter; an opportunity that has become more rare and more appreciated since she left for college four years ago. We arrived early and waited in line to hear Rachel Platten perform her breakout hit Fight SongContinue reading “This Is My Fight Song”
Run, Forrest, Run!
As the final states release results from the spring 2015 Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessments, this post is a look back at a June 2010 presentation to CCSSO Technical Isssues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) members on lessons learned from my involvement with the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). The presentation was titled, Lessons LearnedContinue reading “Run, Forrest, Run!”
Take Me Out To The Ballgame
As the baseball playoffs roll on without my beloved Red Sox or adopted Twins, this is a brief look back at the story of the new Comiskey Park. In April 1991, the new home of the White Sox opened in Chicago. One article in the Chicago Tribune marked the occasion with the headline New Comiskey: Enjoy,Continue reading “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”
He was my teacher, and he was effective
Labor Day is one of those times each year when memories of my father come flooding back. Dad was a high school teacher for forty years from the late 1950s until the late 1990s. Labor Day, signaling the end of summer and the beginning of each new school year, was a major event for ourContinue reading “He was my teacher, and he was effective”
