Deno’s Senior Project Sometimes, human stories that are spoken and recorded, then edited and aired, can illuminate more than written stories, where black letters sit on the white of a page or screen. A colleague of mine, Heidi Curran Bojorges, has produced just such a spoken story, Deno’s Senior Project, for Vocalo, “the cool sisterContinue reading “Deno’s Senior Project”
Category Archives: Hansel and Gretel
Ghosts in the Water
Ghosts in the Water Ghosts? Really now? I am way too rational to believe in that stuff. Proof is necessary if I’m to tremble. Nonetheless, a spirit does haunt me. For some time now, Beloved has wandered my margins. As in the novel, Toni Morrison’s wisp is restless, long for everything and nothing at all, really, quite so veryContinue reading “Ghosts in the Water”
The business of education
The business of education To be perfectly clear, public school teachers need the unifying protection and collective bargaining of unions, history has proven. And, to be perfectly clear, history is showing that America’s urban public school district administrators occupy some of the most conflictive public sector positions, balancing the ever-increasing social/emotional/cognitive/physical needs of students andContinue reading “The business of education”
The Graduate: “What Forest?”
The Graduate: “What Forest?” This post represents a departure from this blog’s usual style. With due reason. This post illuminates a spot-on piece by Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune columnist, who writes about the leaves and the forest. His contention: today’s college students are not learning critical thinking skills. In “Has College Become Too Easy?” he separatesContinue reading “The Graduate: “What Forest?””
Cyrene, the Wise
Cyrene, the Wise “Do you think it would be okay if I wore my earring?” I whispered. Arching an eyebrow, he turned and looked at my ear, then me, dead on. This bull of a man, almost mythic in stature, hunched his shoulders back toward the front of the room, snorting quietly. In the basementContinue reading “Cyrene, the Wise”
Hunger Games: The Parable
Hunger Games: The Parable She scrunches her eyes at nothing in particular. Two more tears, one to each cheek, roll slowly. I sit down across the table. “He was in the back seat. In the middle.” As if on the movie set of her life, upon her a radiant late September sun casts through theContinue reading “Hunger Games: The Parable”
A Pirate
A Pirate Teachers are always stealing. Teachers steal one another’s ideas, strategies, projects — sometimes even elements of one another’s persona, the public image a teacher projects within the classroom and building. Whatever helps the good teacher become a better one. Maybe it’s a well-kept trade secret, but within the world of teaching, thievery isContinue reading “A Pirate”
In the Lost and Found Box: Critical Thinking
In the Lost and Found Box: Critical Thinking Going through an elementary school’s Lost and Found at the end of a school year can be like an archaeological dig. One June, my mother, patience stretched by the antics of three young boys, refused to abide by my joy for the reclaimed, a prized windbreaker jacket. “Barry, really, youContinue reading “In the Lost and Found Box: Critical Thinking”
Antonio and Annie, meet Alfie
Antonio and Annie, meet Alfie Welcoming students as they enter the classroom is a great joy of teaching. So many present and past colleagues and I enjoy this ritual. The welcome is a small, sacred beginning to the daily process of learning. To my way of thinking, light humor and warmth prevail; to my students’ waysContinue reading “Antonio and Annie, meet Alfie”
Ginger
Ginger We took him in, so, yes, I used to have a dog. An insatiably curious mongrel — you know, the shaggy kind that smells real bad when almost always wet — lived with us. We six, all of us recent college grads, lived in a small house in a small, wet city in Alaska.Continue reading “Ginger”
Humans in Every Corner
Humans in Every Corner “Allah has punished the Jews. They deserved this…” A quiet boy, no more than fourteen. The walls peel inward as classmates eyeball the boy, in the corner, and me, in the front. Dry October leaves pile in the corners of the school’s courtyard. Our reading of Elie Wiesel’s Night is complete andContinue reading “Humans in Every Corner”
Learning is…
Learning is . . . Learning is a Humanist Endeavor. Primary and secondary learning is not a scientific experiment, measurable at every turn. That learning is not a business transaction, quid pro quo always expected. Through the acquisition of skills and content knowledge, the goal of primary and secondary public education is to guide youngContinue reading “Learning is…”
Curriculum is…
Curriculum is . . . Formal Education is Three Things: Curriculum. Instruction. Assessment. Always, those three components exist within ever-shifting political, social, and economic contexts. And — whew — those contexts have multiple layers which are often in conflict with one another: the classroom, the academic subject, the school, the community, the city/town, the state, American society… Every school day, eachContinue reading “Curriculum is…”
Instruction is . . .
Instruction is . . . Formal Education is Three Things: Curriculum. Instruction. Assessment. Always, those three components exist within ever-shifting political, social, and economic contexts. And — whew — those contexts have multiple layers which are often in conflict with one another: the classroom, the academic subject, the school, the community, the city/town, the state, American society… Every school day, eachContinue reading “Instruction is . . .”
Assessment is . . .
Assessment is . . . Formal Education is Three Things: Curriculum. Instruction. Assessment. Always, those three components exist within ever-shifting political, social, and economic contexts. And — whew — those contexts have multiple layers which are often in conflict with one another: the classroom, the academic subject, the school, the community, the city/town, the state, American society… Every school day, eachContinue reading “Assessment is . . .”
Hansel and Gretel 