The Gaze

The Gaze is an important methodology for catagorizing diverse visual cues. This ad, by the Fox clothing company, is the adjusted version of an earlier one taken down after protests from the Orthodox Jewish community in the city of Tel Aviv. The original ad depicted the same models in far less clothing and what we can only assume was too suggestive for the local population. I see the image as depicting the irony of the situation. The models are still looking at us but the joke is on us, because instead of the Orthodox covering their eyes to avoid being tempted by the scantily clad models, the models are covering their eyes to avoid being... tempted?? I don't think their expression signifies temptation, I think their expression depicts an expression of an inside joke, a mocking expression of fun at the viewer's, presumably Orthodox, expense.

The gaze is exhibitionist in nature, but on its head, the desired object (the models) are actually looking at the viewer in a mocking nature. Not only poking fun at the fact that the Orthodox couldn't look at them in their previous gear, but also mocking the fact that they can't join them

in whatever fun they appear to be having, smiling and giggling. The gaze could even be seen as identification of the Orthodox viewers perhaps wishing they were in the picture, imagining themselves seeing the ridiculousness of their pious wardrobe, or maybe the gaze would be considered transgressive then.

In conclusion, its difficult to imagine what the gaze means to someone so far outside our culture. How could we pressume to guess what an Orthodox person might feel at seeing this ad? I think it may be our belief system which makes us think they might feel envious or mocked. From my past research on the Orthodox Jews, they would never feel this way, their religion places them in a social hierarchy which, in their opinion, places them closer to God and superior to all others. But it is still interesting to imagine what they might think as they gaze on those billboards.

Reading Reflection on Philosophy and Children

In the NY Times there is a fascinating article about Professor Matthew Lipman who has spent the majority of his career teaching philosophy to children and educating teachers on how to do so. He has created a curriculum used by Professor Wartenberg using popular children's picture books, such as Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree (viewable below link for article) to encourage children to think philosophically, question their thoughts, and respect the conclusions of others.

In The Giving Tree, the tree gives its whole self to the boy throughout the course of his life, giving him what he needs at each particular stage; apples to sell for a teenage boy, branches to build a house for a young man boy. In the end, the tree is nothing but a stump still trying to please the boy, now an old man, but having nothing left to give having been stripped of everything of value.

Especially in today's eco-conscious society this particular book brings up many questions and feelings that young children may be unsure of. In the classroom they observed the children, having had 5 previous classes in philosophy, knew how to have a discussion. They questioned the value of a tree, was it wrong to take everything, and took a stance on their points of view. Then following their point of view they argued the value of nature, the value of friendship, and came to conclusions by hearing their fellow students opposing viewpoints, listening respectfully.

These are really significant skills for children to learn, not only in school, but for life. To be able to debate your point of view, respectfully, with knowledge and articulation is skill few people aside from politicians, seem to have. The ability to recognize one's beliefs and follow through in one's defense of them, whether right or wrong, is something that will take children far in life. Whether it be talking their parents into why they deserve a cell phone or making a presentation in school, being able to speaks one's opinions clearly and in defense of one's own opinion is priceless.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18philosophy-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

http://dilayllah.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/the-giving-tree-story/

Marina Abramovic at MOMA *

The exhibit of performance artist, Marina Abramovic, at Museum of Modern Art is not only amazing for the incredible amount of work presented but also for the fact that the artist is there, live, creating a piece. Abramovic is no longer in the same physical shape she was when she began performing and the question of how to preserve a body of work when the artist can no longer perform them is approaching quickly. Her work has been sold as a collection to MOMA and they have found the solution. They have dancers re-creating her performance works under her direction. The majority of them are dancers and perform the pieces as she and her partner, Uly, did, nude. What seems almost embarassingly comical on initial inspection is actually complex, fascinating, and at times, violent.

Abramovic has led an amazing life. Of Yugoslavian descent, her father was a decorated World War 2 hero and her uncle declared a saint by the church after his death. She experienced an productive period of collaboration with a German artist, Uly, doing many performance pieces together. Their relationship culminated in a piece in which they each start walking from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China with the plan to marry once they met. Unfortunately, by the time they overcame the red tape their relationship had deteriorated and their final meeting signified the end of their relationship and collaborations. Video of this culmination is projected onto a far wall.

Many of her earlier works have typed directions for each performance including the specific time each step takes displayed alongside a photo of her performing the work. The methodical way each piece was rehearsed, performed and notated is more reminiscent of a bookkeeper than an artist. Some of the most riveting consist of sound and video; including one piece where she screamed, danced, and recited random words till she passed out from physical exhaustion. All three performances are displayed on a wall alongside each other in a violent, disturbing, but riveting vision.

Her performance pieces are recreated by trained dancers. Since most of them perform nude it questions many of our preconceived ideas about how we feel about the vulnerability of nudity. In one piece a man and a woman flank a doorway facing each other creating a narrow opening that the viewer must position themselves through, brushing past their exposed bodies. How do people react to the nudity? To being forced to have physical contact with it? In addition it makes one question how nudity appears in public locations. We also observed the performers in the midst of changing for breaks in a piece in which a naked woman sits precariously on a bike seat suspended 20' up on a wall, arms and legs splayed out without any support. The slow, gracious way in which their arms and legs lowered, carefully climbing down a ladder to their replacement holding a long white lab coat for covering up, it was almost as if it was part of the piece.

The Artist is Present is the piece she performs live, everyday during museum hours. She sits in a chair at an empty table facing an empty chair and is surrounded by a large taped off perimeter on the floor. Museum goers are invited to come and quietly sit with her for as long as they like, not interacting on any verbal or physical level other than sitting still. I heard another student in our class, talking about her and her work, say it was about physical endurance. But I beg to differ, I feel that her work is really a physical representation of the challenge of the mind. It is the mental flexibility that allows her to remain physically still and still travel, without a sound, without moving. The gowns she wears are specially made to even allow her to defecate while sitting on display. That control of mind over body is only on the surface about endurance, I think its more about the ability to set your mind free.

I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibit and truly commend MOMA for putting on a display of the type of work one goes to a museum of 'Modern' art for. Let's face it, pretty pictures are on the wall everywhere. But to be able to see this type of work, and the artist herself, live, is truly a wonderful, mind opening experience.

Reflections on My Sculpture Project

“Class Snuggie”

brown terrycloth

A Snuggie was designed to give the wearer the ultimate feeling of comfort and security when lounging, watching TV, or relaxing on the couch. My Class Snuggie is representative of my overall feelings towards my graduate schooling as I near the end of my first year.

When the Snuggie is worn by a class the students heads are seen as well as the teacher’s head, while the rest of the body is hidden, secure under the tarp of cozy concealment. At times I feel this is all they, the professors and the school, cares about; our heads. Our heads that can have the learning poured into them, our ears that can listen to endless lectures for hours on end, our eyes which droop after hours of power points, and our voices which have to speak up to be heard. What is hidden, in secure comfort, is what they seem to want little to do with. Feet that have climbed mountains, bodies that have nursed children, hands that have built houses, hearts that have worshipped, all these things seem to hold no bearing on our higher educations. “You’re graduate students now” seems to be a phrase that is thrown around a lot with so many loaded expectations connected to it. But what about what we HAVE been? Why does what we are made of seem to have so little bearing on what we are? The Class Snuggie represents an absence of the acknowledgement of students as a whole learning being.

Tim Burton at MOMA *

The Tim Burton exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art is an amazing overview of an artist with a lifelong point of view that evolved over a life. His Gothic sensibilities are evident even in his teenage years growing up in Burbank, California. He spent 2 years at CalArts before going to work in animation for the Walt Disney company.

The wonderful part about Burton's work is that it is almost exclusively figures with a comically macabre bent. Characters from his inner world are deformed, distorted, disabled, disturbed and completely, utterly adorable. They have dialogues that have physical manifestations, frizzy hair, bulging eyes, stilt-legs.

The entrance to the exhibit is timed and through a huge orifice of a mouth with protruding teeth. The viewer walks down a long hallway lined with video monitors displaying animation of a Burton character named 'Stain Boy', who leaves deathly and deadly 'stains' wherever he goes. The displays are a bit crowded hundreds of small drawings, the majority in pen and pencil. They are intricate squiggles with an naughty, evil determination about them. There are several figurines on display from his popular stop-motion animation films like 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' s Jack Skellington and all his alternate heads with dozens of expressions from joy to thoughtfulness to horror. The details of the each figure used in these animated films is a small sculpture, a tiny life awaiting the chance in front of the camera to come to life. There are a few costume pieces which bear closer examination, such as Edward Scissorhands' patchwork body suit with actual metal cutlery, all carefully wired to create a finger-like aperture.

The narrow gallery space, the crowds, none of it can take away from the sense of mischievous glee the viewer feels when let into Burton's world. The viewer feels as if they have entered another world, where up is down and wrong is right, to be naughty is nice. The hundreds of characters that gaze back on us off the gallery walls create a parade you want to be part of, even if only in our (or is it Burton's?) dreams.

Brooklyn Children's Museum *

Why are children's museums primarily experiences in cultures or nature as opposed to actual experiences with artwork? I can't even begin to hypothesize other than to guess that very young children learn through physical experience more than visual stimulus and that by giving them the right type of developmental activity one can prepare them for fine art observations.

The Brooklyn Children's Museum recently underwent a huge renovation leaving the spaces open and clearly defined by activity. Half of the museum is dedicated to the theme of 'Brooklyn Neighborhoods' which includes several faux storefronts reflecting different neighborhood cultures in Brooklyn. For example, there is a Mexican panderia, or bakery and an Italian pizzeria where the children can go behind the counter and make pretend food. There is also a Caribbean store where kids can try on West Indian Day Parade costumes. It is all laid out in a continuous path so you can easily go from one exhibit to another. I can see how for very young children, teaching them about other cultures is a primary step to learning about fine art. It is showing them a different point of view which opens their minds to differences in the world.

The second part of the museum revolves around natural world around us. There are several indoor sandboxes and large fish tanks with floor level observation areas for children to crawl or walk past. This area has several nature oriented hands-on exhibits and a special section with the largest boa you've ever seen. This section of the museum seems to be more of a natural history museum than a cultural foray.

In conclusion, I think the general concept behind children's museums is not only to give kids a hands-on experience with other cultures or to let them experience nature close up but to prepare them for the experience of larger cultural institutions. Children who go to this museum will be more than ready to go to the Natural History Museum in Manhattan and experience these things on a larger scale. They will understand not only what is in a museum, how to behave there, but also how to see. Likewise the cultural section of the children's museums will teach children the skills needed to appreciate other strange and different displays. Whether they get to touch them or not, they will learn how to see things as different from their world.

Reading Reflection on A Stone for Unica Zurn

Does tragedy make art better? Does suffering make the artist more talented? or just more fascinating? These are all questions I ask myself after reading the tale of Unica Zurn. The lover of surrealist artist Hans Bellmar and an artist in her own right, Zurn's biography is one that alternately breaks your heart and turns your stomach.

So the answer to my questions, in my opinion are, sometimes, not neccessarily and definitely yes....

Sometimes hearing the story behind the artwork, the inspiration for it, can drawn us into the piece the way a cold viewing could not. Many times historians search for deeper meaning behind art works but I wonder if its because we feel the need to explain why a piece attracts us. I don't feel that there always has to be a reason one is touched by a piece, sometimes it just reaches into our inner most pysche for reasons we cannot explain. This is how two people with identical knowledge and background can look at the same piece and perhaps have totally different viewpoints.

Suffering also does not neccessarily make the artist more talented. But perhaps a dearth of extreme experience does. Very few of us can claim to have lived a life haunted by the same demons as Zurn. Today most of us would use the miracles of modern pharmacuticals to never feel the inner agony she obviously did. Why did she continued to suffer, through many hospital visits and presumably many medical interventions? This is a mystery of the mind we can never know the answer to. Maybe the medications she was offered were debilatating, maybe they made her lethargic, or maybe she just didn't like the person she was on medications.

Finally, in answer to the question if suffering makes the artist more fascinating, in my opinion, the response is affirmative. There is no price that can be put on the experiences of individuals. But if their work allows us, even for a moment to experience just a little slice of that life, be it wonderful or horrific, than that is more than just fascinating. It is a window into the soul of another living being. Whether we should be allowed in is a right they relinquish when they chose to create work. But I tend to wonder if they are compelled to allow us in so they can validate whatever exists within.

Observing at a Million Dollar Playground

In Waukegan, Illinois there is a playground, not just any playground, but a playground built 2 years ago with funds from the state of Illinois and private donations called Bowen Park that cost in excess of one million dollars. What does a million dollars buy? A lot actually; a 75' climbing spider web, a 50' tower with two tunnel slides, 3 disc swings, a large multi-use climbing structure, a scenic outlook with depictions of birds to look for, a modern merry-go-round, park benches, and a toddler/infant area with sand, climbing structures and equipment safely separated from activity of more active children. But it turns out that the best thing a million dollars buys is physical, active fun for children of all age groups.

The problems with most playgrounds, as I've learned in NYC, is that after a certain age, children are not welcome there. As a society we constantly hear about obesity in teens, how they're fixated on video games, how they don't know how to have active fun anymore. And yet, at most playgrounds I've been to older children are looked upon as pariahs, too dangerous to play around little kids, a menace, a bad influence. They're too often left to just sit on park benches.

At Bowen park there is something for everyone. Teens climb up the giant spider webs, helping little kids to the easier levels and assisting older kids to the top. Teenagers are allowed to be active and are included in the play with younger ones. Because the equipment can accommodate different ages, no kids sit on the benches here. I watched two teenage girls in flip-flops climb to the top of the web and hang out at the top, laughing. Up the slope at the climbing tower two tweens have organized an army of little kids to slide down the tunnels. Calling out numbers and shuffling the little ones down the slide they've discovered a way to commandeer the play. At times it got a little precarious, pushing the little ones into the slide too closely together to safely prevent collisions. A worried friend climbed up to ask the tweens to slow it down a bit. Surprisingly the little ones loved it, the feeling of rushing down the tunnels and the potential for danger fresh in their pounding heartbeats. The actually weren't frightened at all, just excited to have 'big kids' playing with them!

The Rubber Room documentary

Jeremy Garrett is a former NYC school teacher who directed and produced a documentary film called, 'The Rubber Room'. The rubber room is slang for holding rooms operated by the Department of Education which house teachers who have accusations or charges against them but cannot be fired or let go due to lengthy union regulations. They cannot be allowed with students until they have been given due process, but cannot be let go due to union rules. 40 million is spent on salaries for teachers in the rubber room. They exist in a purgatory where the innocent mingle with the guilty and no daily activity is asked of them other than signing in and out.

In an interview on NY1 Garrett talked about the new legislation which came out today that will close down these rubber rooms. Garrett spoke about how the problems created by these rooms is not the sole fault of the teacher's union but the Department of Education as well. At one point there were, by his estimation, almost a thousand teachers in rubber rooms all awaiting a resolution. There was one teacher he knew of that had been in the rooms for 12 years.

This film shows actual footage from these rooms and interviews with the educators. Teachers only have to show up to sign in, take a hour lunch, and sign out at 2:45. Garrett says one of the worst things is the mindless passing of time these teachers must endure, they're given no guidance, no suggestions, and really no rules. Many of the interviewed teachers voice concerns about false accusations of ill behaved students, or the black mark being sent to the rubber rooms puts on your records making it almost impossible to get a new job. Garrett states how difficult it was to make this film, he was denied interviews many times from Joel Klein, the school chancellor, the teacher's union, and teachers themselves who were afraid to speak out. He actually pulled out a camera in a Brooklyn rubber room and was arrested by police called by suspicious teachers. The irony he said is that if the DOE had found out he would have been taken out of his substitute teaching job and placed in a rubber room himself!

Hopefully this film will make people aware of exactly where their tax dollars go and the injustices enabled by this money. Of course, now that these rooms are closed solutions must be found and due process must be sped up so that those accurately and falsely accused can move on. Not everyone is meant to be a teacher but that doesn't mean they should be punished by "teacher jail". Many of them should just be given the merciful treatment of the pink slip.

Visiting the Noguchi Museum *

The Noguchi Museum is near the waterfront in an industrial area of Long Island City, in Queens. It was formerly a factory and exists on a strange triangle of property purchased by Noguchi’s estate especially for this museum. It is a great location near beautiful city parks, though difficult for city transportation.

The space is beautiful and its austere interior is perfect for the artist’s aesthetics. After a long renovation they have almost the entire catalog on exhibit. The stone sculptures are perfect in the environment where they have plenty of space to breathe. Using archival notes from the artist himself, everything is presented as closely to his specifications as possible. The wonderful thing about the artist having lived in the 20^th century is that he was able to have input to how his legacy would be perceived. Since Noguchi was also adept at interiors, exteriors, and gardens it’s especially fascinating to see works displayed as he would had created them to be. The exterior works are a beautiful example of the Japanese aesthetic that Westerners sometimes have a difficulty appreciating. It’s interesting to note they also offer family programs here in Japanese. What a wonderful way to incorporate more of the diverse communities of NYC with arts institutions.

I can’t help but wonder if more artists had spaces dedicated to their work how enjoyable it would be to observe their work as they had intended it to be. Space is expensive and few artists truly have the catalog Noguchi had, but it is a wonderful fantasy to think of museums all over the city, next to coffee shops, above hair salons, down in the subway. I mention to the special teacher there for the family Grandparent’s Day activities how great it would have been if the city had worked together with the museum to put a Noguchi designed playground across the street where there are many waterside public spaces. Her response was, “…the city really dropped the ball on that one…”, implying to me that the bureaucracy of the city had won over the people yet again.

Reading Reflection on Children and Internet Useage

The NY Times printed a piece about a curriculum designed to teach children about internet usage and its dangers. The piece; http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/education/09cyberkids.html?partner=rss&emc=rss , doesn't assume children already know these dangers or that parents are aware. The truly amazing thing is that a curriculum like Common Sense, as mentioned in the article, hasn't been implemented sooner. Children don't seem to realize that the world wide web is a public domain, that things they write can be read by everyone, parents, friends, and enemies. And that information on the web lives on indefinitely. At a young age children may learn to type or blog or search for popular toys or clothes, however I don't think they understand the breadth of what they may put out into the electronic world. As they point out in the article kids forget that this information will still be out there years from now when they apply for college, look for a job, interview for bank loans, and move forward with their lives. The immaturity of their internet actions can have serious consequences to their future selves. This needs to be just as important a lesson as using Word or learning Photoshop. Lectures about bullying in the schoolyard are just as important as lecturing about bullying online. As the suicide of a freshman girl who was being bullied points out-words can hurt. Children are always taught "sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me".. and now, as adults, we unfortunately know that is not true.

Observing at the Zoo

Observing at Racine Zoo is actually more of an exercise in childhood freedom than interactions. There is something about a zoo on a beautiful sunny day that takes each of us back to childhood memories. The zoo is situated just off the beach of Lake Michigan in south eastern Wisconsin. Once you enter the iron gates cut in the shapes of animals its like entering a large garden that just happens to have animals. Being it was the beginning of the warm weather season, and only April 1 there were fewer than a dozen animals out for observing.

More than seeing the animals it seems the children enjoy the freedom of running ahead, going to see this animal or that, without an adult glued to them. In urban areas, I often feel what children are missing, even more than outdoor space, is the freedom to spend time outdoors on their own. While visiting a friend in Michigan, she suggested the children go outside to play. I started to follow the children outside like the typical urban parent, but my friend just stood there and said, ‘Where are you going?’. Where was I going? The yard was large, enclosed, with a swingset, fort, green grass, some woods in the back. There was no need for me to go outside, these children had the freedom to go outside when they pleased and to spend time by themselves, with no adults making decisions, mediating arguments, or suggesting activities. The zoo allows for a small dose of that freedom. Because it’s a family destination, and fairly safe, parents can relax and allow for wandering.

Being allowed to explore was one of the most positive experiences, choosing which cage to look in next, which path to take, and how much time to spend at each display. The kids would run far ahead and climb on the railings separating the animals from observers. They didn’t have as much interest in the few animals out as they did jumping from sidewalk square to square. There was a little train that took them on a ride along the beach lakeshore. Even though it was such a brief ride and they didn’t see anything but the backside of a sleeping bear, it was an exciting diversion too. They were so happy to be sent into the monkey house by themselves that they dashed back to their adults to report what they saw.

Spending an afternoon someplace like this is a great experience is letting go and allowing everyone to observe, walk, and enjoy being together at their own pace. Too often children are forced to do things at an adult pace, walk along a busy sidewalk, jump onto a subway car, get ready for school, rush home from school. As soon as we realize that children observe and input stimulus at a different rate we can learn to adjust ourselves to try to see the world as they do.

Observing at Monkey Joe's

Observing kids at Monkey Joe’s, a party/ play space with roughly 10 bouncy slides, castles, and mazes, is a bit like watching kids in the thrall of legal drug usage. Monkey Joe’s is a warehouse size space decorated in vibrant yellow, purple, and greens with cartoon monkeys on every surface. There are chairs and tables in several central areas and party rooms for birthdays on the side wall. In the front of the space, by windows overlooking the parking lot, is a lounge of black leather chairs around a large flat screen TV and several computer workstations with free wifi. There are signs everywhere advertising the special chemicals used to sanitize the bouncers to make them “99.9%” germ free. They’ve clearly learned in this space, that to make parents happy as well as the kids is the key to return customers. Because, after all, it’s the parents who pay the bill.

The kids are so overwhelmed by the size of the warehouse space, the vibrant colors, and the constant hum of the blowers keeping the bouncers inflated they’re not sure where to go first. The first bouncer is a obstacle course of sorts with 3 climbing ridges culminating in a slide. This leads them to the back of the space where a giant enclosed bouncy space with sports balls and hoops are inside. The children need no encouragement to bounce higher to attempt to make baskets. They run around and around the enclosure bounding, rolling, galloping, and running into each other in a mindless frenzy. The seem to feel no pain when they collide, the adrenaline is so powerful in their system now they just jump right back up, completely oblivious to the inconvenience.

Soon, like any drug, the children begin to come down off their high and aren’t sure what to do with themselves. There are so many options, so many good things, they don’t know what to possibly chose. They start to get confused, which one should they try next, should they run, should they climb? Some start to get ravenous for lunch, their little metabolisms hard at work. Some get close to admitting defeat and say, “I’m tired”. Their sweaty foreheads are matted with damp hair and their sock feet are clammy. This is how you know its time to go, time for detox.

GuysRead.com

In an effort to encourage reading for boys and men alike there is a wonderful blog; http://www.guysread.com/blog/

This blog covers everything a male of any age could be interested in reading from pre-literate to mature adult. The importance of this site is that it makes it…cool. One of the problems with encouraging boys to read is that so much popular children’s reading is devoid of things which attract boys; trucks, action, mystery, adventure, and according to the site, “..at least one explosion…”. And even if there are stories boys are interested in, the desire to read is often a ‘nerdy’ or ‘geeky’ endeavour. This is an ideal place for older children to become involved too, suggesting books and starting their own group. This is a tool the parents of boys can truly use.

There is another popular book called, Stories My Son Needs. It is similar to this site in that it has age appropriate suggestions for movies and books for boys. Parents can learn from sites and books like this as well. They can learn how to encourage learning in a language boys can understand. After all, my husband learned how to read because he was desperate to understand his comic books!

Reading Reflection on NY Times Op Ed piece: Boys and Learning

Men may still be the dominant force in the halls of political and business power, but the facts presented in this Op Ed piece show the reality of what is really going on in the classroom, boys are falling behind.

As one of my favorite books, Raising Cain, points out, the majority of teaching techniques are geared towards female styles of learning. Boys do not do well with sitting still and being quiet which are both major skills required to get ahead in most schools. Studies in Raising Cain have shown that in schools where boys have an option to learn standing up or have frequent physical play times they do much better. A friend of mine from Finland told me that the children have 10 minutes of running around outside in between every class. Most schools only have Physical education once a week and recess sometimes only once a day. This is not to say that children should not learn the skills of quieting their bodies and mouths in a group school setting. But we are doing boys a real disservice if we assume both sexes have the same learning methods.

All this is not to say that girl should be pushed aside. Girl athletics are well known to be shortchanged financially and the gains mentioned in the article in girls’ performance in science should not be forgotten. But as long as boys are falling behind, being disciplined more frequently, and are consistent low scorers on major aptitude tests something needs to give in the way we approach their education. This is not to say that special attention to other groups fall by the wayside while white middle class boys take the focus. But the more attention that is given to the way boys learn will do more than help their scores, it will help to manage their behaviours (which will benefit all students with fewer interruptions taking focus from the class), help them to focus on their work, and allow them to have physical outlets of a positive nature.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28kristof.html?src=me&ref=homepage