Antonio Viva

Category: Zen

edSocialMedia Bootcamp Keynote St. John’s Prep

A word of thanks to the folks over at WhippleHill Communications for streaming my keynote at the edSocialMedia Bootcamp at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, MA. Over 20 independent school professionals in all areas of advancement came together to learn and discuss the power and potential of social media in our schools. Enjoy!

Monday Morning Meditation – A Great Revolution

I came across this great quote by Daisaku Ikeda, who is president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist association which claims 12 million members in 192 countries and territories, and founder of several educational, cultural and research institutions. I was searching this past weekend for some inspiration around the idea that change in schools [...]

Opening Remarks 2009

Good Morning. I am Mr. Viva, the Associate Head of School here at Worcester Academy. And I know for a fact that many of you recognize me more from my voice than anything else. Does this sound familiar? “Good Morning, This is Mr. Viva, due to dangerous weather conditions, Worcester Academy will be closed today.” [...]

Your Neighbor’s Story

For those of you follow me regularly on Twitter or Facebook, you know that for me, yoga is the “zen” part in zen daddio. I was first introduced to yoga 6 years ago at the UMass Center for Mindfullness training I participated in. Specifically the stress reduction course they offer which is fantastic. It wasn’t [...]

Your Own Personal Mission Statement

Last week I attended the “Meaningful Faculty Evaluation” workshop given by ISM in Philadelphia. For those of you who are not familiar with MFE, it is a process of engaging faculty through conversations and personal growth that is intended to strip away the focus and obsession with weaknesses and focus on what teachers are good [...]

Monday Morning Meditation – Balance

Last spring I worked on a weekly series called “Monday Morning Meditation” where I would try to connect some thoughts, ideas and perspectives about leadership to the teachings of Zen. It is my hope that by devoting some time to the complex and very human interactions associated with leadership, we can find new ways to [...]

The Uncertainty of it All

Occasionally I find time to browse through some of my favorite websites looking for some good reading or an interesting resource I have yet to encounter. As I browsed through the NAIS website, I came across a letter written by John R. C. Sumner, who in 1951 was a teacher of modern languages at the [...]

Zen and the Art of Johnny Bunko

At the beginning of this summer I picked up a copy of “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need” by one of my favorite authors Dan Pink. I had the opportunity to see Dan speak at the 2008 NAIS Annual Conference in New York in February and during his keynote, [...]

Monday Morning Meditation – Keeping your online life simple and peaceful..

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has created a wonderful list called The Zen of Tech: 12 Powerful Ways to Keep Your Online Life Simple and Peaceful. What I truly admire about this post is how he has done a wonderful job connecting simple and wonderful tools that when put to use properly can provide a [...]

Monday Morning Meditation – Reflection

Xeutang said to Master Qiean:
In managing affairs one must weigh the heavy and the light; when speaking out one must first think and reflect. Strive to accord with the middle way, do now allow bias. Hasty and careless actions seldom bring success. Even if you can get done in this way, after all you [...]