HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive

Why tell the truth when it doesn't always pay? It's important to let boys encounter this question through example, literature, and enough freedom to wrestle with his own conscience.
In this rebroadcast of a 2017 talk, Head of Lower School Colin Gleason admits that you can't "teach" integrity with drills and facts. But you can create an environment that encourages it to develop. We have to push past consequentialism and avoid the adult instinct to root out the facts at any cost. Because the truth is a good and natural thing; the boy needs only to embrace it.
Chapters:
3:12 Dishonesty: from toddlers to adults
5:51 Examples of integrity
10:04 Defining integrity, and whether we can teach it
13:36 Getting past "consequence" ethics
22:14 Homes and schools where integrity can take root
24:47 Trust: the power of relationship
33:47 Freedom: their own initiative
38:37 Friendship: ready to guide and help
45:03 Dishonesty from fear, honesty from confidence
Links:
Jeremy Affeldt repaid the Giants $500,000 after clerical error, CBS Sports, May 15, 2013
"Sportsman" Roddick falls in Rome, The Seattle Times, May 6, 2005
Also on the Forum:
The Truth Shall Set You Free by Alvaro de Vicente
Lying to Dumbledore: On Moral Consequentialism in Children's Literature featuring Joe Breslin and Tom Cox
Featured Opportunities:
Parents' Conference at The Heights School (April 25, 2026)

Could creativity and intellectual freedom actually depend on the rote?
Following up on his recent article for the Forum, math teacher Dave Maxham dives into why fundamentals and drills are integral to creativity—not hindrances. Between the "drill and kill" and the "free inquiry" camps lies the golden mean: an understanding that mastery and even delight in the basics allows for real, nimble handling of creative problems.
Chapters:
3:19 Defining automaticity, creativity
7:09 The automatic enables the creative
15:14 Returning to basics, overcoming boredom
19:14 Struggle and humility bear fruit
24:05 Mastery and the intrinsic payoff
27:24 Model delight in your subject
35:13 With low standards, high expectations
42:25 The goals of homework
47:58 Cover less material, emphasize process
55:45 Letting them work it out
Links:
Automaticity and Creativity by David Maxham
Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton (see chapter 4, "The Ethics of Elfland")
Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanation and Explicit Teaching by Zach Groshnell
The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning—And How to Help Them Thrive Again by Jared Cooney Horvath
Also on the Forum:
Classroom Habits of Attention in the Age of AI featuring Andrew Cantarutti
Mathematics: The Lost Liberal Art featuring Dave Maxham
The Math Problem: Tackling the "I'm Terrible at Math" Mentality featuring Dave Maxham
Featured Opportunities:
Parents' Conference at The Heights School (April 25, 2026) – link coming soon
The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist
Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)
Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026)

What do our children need most from us in the unsteady years of middle school? First, says Head of Middle School Andy Reed, they need our availability.
But making ourselves fully and honestly available runs contrary to so many modern patterns of life, from work demands and short schedules to the ever-tempting screen. In fact, Mr. Reed calls it the Mount Everest of Modern Parenting: replacing frenetic patterns with quiet, contemplative patterns for our own mental management, so that we can be available to the boy who needs us at unexpected times.
Chapters:
1:35 Middle school's rough reputation
6:39 A boy in search of his role
9:30 Attention shouldn't be sourced in worry
11:44 How to trust the boy
22:54 A family culture of availability
26:27 Parenting spectrum: from buddy to manager
28:57 The golden mean: accompaniment
31:13 Quiet patterns over frenetic ones
42:28 How to deliver advice
Also on the Forum:
Parenting: Patience or Optimism featuring Andrew Reed
There Is No Manual by Alvaro de Vicente
What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about The Male Brain by Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti
Educating Leaders with Thomas More featuring Dr. Stephen Smith
Featured Opportunities:
Parents' Conference at The Heights School (April 25, 2026) – link coming soon
The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist
Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)
Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

Today, we have an increasing store of research to evaluate the claims of educational tech. Where does it assist or upend our goals as a school? Where does it support or bypass our students' intellectual sovereignty? Can it be used constructively?
This week on HeightsCast, writer and educator Andrew Cantarutti shares with us the research on digital tools, and especially AI, in K-12 education. In passionate detail, he also lays out how a school can cultivate the habits of attention by its curriculum, pedagogy, character, and even the physical school building.
Chapters:
3:05 Cantarutti's background
5:27 The lay of the digital land in education
8:38 Attention: a capacity that can grow—and shrink
12:35 A school's mission and the habits of attention
20:08 School schedules, school spaces
23:35 Four cognitive skills for your lesson plans
34:14 The research on AI and education
38:47 Teachers' AI use
43:26 Constructive ways to engage with AI
50:47 Whether you can teach critical thinking
53:26 Promises of AI vs. the goals of education
58:05 Rethinking the structure of class time
Links:
The Walled Garden, Andrew Cantarutti's Substack
Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect, Brookings Institute report, January 14, 2026
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt in Essay Writing, MIT Media Lab, June 10, 2025
Instructional Illusions by Paul Kirschner, Carl Hendrick, and Jim Heal
The Film Students Who Can No Longer Sit Through Films, The Atlantic, January 30, 2026
Alpha School: AI-Driven Education Coming to a School Near You, The New York Times, July 27, 2025
Also on the Forum:
ChatGPT Holds These Truths to be Self-Evident by Mark Grannis
AI and the Take-Home Essay featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan
The Freedom to Form Bonds: Mindfulness and Attention featuring Kevin Majeres
Digital Minimalism: Creating a Philosophy of Personal Technology Use featuring Cal Newport
Featured Opportunities:
The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist
Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)
Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

Volume, pitch, pace, tone, inflection: the human voice is our primary teaching instrument. The spoken word has not just a logos and an ethos but an embodied and personal quality—which comes with enormous advantages.
This week, twenty-five-year Heights veteran Tom Steenson shares a valuable reflection on the human voice and how we use it in the classroom. He includes many practical examples of how to engage students, express expectations, correct without disruption, and love your students by using your voice with intention.
Chapters:
3:11 The humanity of voice
5:14 The science of volume and pitch
6:56 Your reading and teaching voice
9:04 Speech as love, not punishment
10:46 Voice for humor and engagement
13:54 All the advantages of spoken word
16:25 A unique, live meeting of minds
20:26 Control without yelling
27:05 Enjoying your students
30:17 Song and poetry in the classroom
33:04 The value of the voice in-person
Links:
Teaching the History of Our "Strange New World": The History of Western Thought Course featuring Austin Hatch and Michael Moynihan
Also on the Forum:
The Ritual of Reading in the Classroom featuring Tom Steenson
Classroom Ambience by Joseph Bissex
Classroom Tone and Culture featuring Tom Steenson
Featured Opportunities:
The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist
Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)
Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon