On Friday, June 19, guitarist, singer and songwriter extraordinaire, Graham Nash visited a very special class at PS 58 in Brooklyn. Mr. Nash, his lovely and thoughtful wife, Susan, his fascinating friend Billy and his 2 sons, Jackson and Will, took time out of their busy schedules to visit the 4Fives, Brooklyn's first positivity blogging team. Positivity blogging is a new internet trend, where every post, every word, every idea on ones site is positive. With an emphasis on manners and generosity, positivity blogging makes it easy for students to connect with other student bloggers, and the more people happily sharing the things they love and linking together, the greater the strength and flexibility of the network. I could talk forever about the 4Fives and their amazing teacher, Bee Ladd, but for the best information, check out their blog (http://the4five.wordpress.com). For an insightful description of the class, start with this post (http://the4five.wordpress.com/2009/04/).



Mr. Nash and family came to the school to talk with the students, celebrate what they have accomplished and, to the great fortunte of all present, sing 2 songs. The visit was arranged by son Jackson of SuperForest fame. Check out Jackson's amazing blog (http://www.superforest.org/) for more information on Jackson's work.

The Nash family is so incredibly unassuming and generous - they set the bar high for positiveness that other famous people hopefully aspire to. They arrived around noon and mingled with the students from the 4Fives class and the handful of very lucky school personnel in attendance. The students ate their lunch and just enjoyed the casual conversation. Once everyone was full, the students moved to the rug and spent quite awhile asking the very thoughtful questions they had prepared for this occassion. (A few of the questions and answers are included in the video.) Mr. Nash then brought out his guitar and performed Teach Your Children (check out the video for this amazing performance, including the sound of the passing truck). Jackson harmonized on this song with his dad (check out www.superforest.org for Jackson's comments on singing with his dad) to create a beautiful sound.

Co-founded by NYC educator Bee Ladd and Enviro-blogger Jackson Nash, the 4Fives blogging experiment is a pilot program for their education initiative, the SuperForest Seedlings. SuperForest Seedlings is a teaching curriculum for the post-racial, class-blind, internet age. It is a training course in flexible thinking, focused curiousity, and hands-on technology exploration, with a focus on having fun.

Posted by Guest Blogger - MM