creative thinking – Hansel and Gretel

As to Bs: A Beginning

As to Bs: A Beginning This is about curriculum. Arguably, the most important curriculum there is to the future of a human and his/her society. ∞∞∞∞∞ A quiet boy, no more than fourteen. The walls peel inward while classmates eyeball the boy, in the rear corner, and me, in the front. Dry October leaves pile inContinue reading “As to Bs: A Beginning”

Charlie

Charlie “Youngster, you don’t know shit.” At one point or another, what teacher or parent hasn’t thought something like this about a teenager’s attitude? The thought consoles us in an adolescent’s particular moment of petulance. Programmed by nature, the adolescent is pinging us and, damn, sometimes we want to ping back. Remarkably, I know ofContinue reading “Charlie”

Large fish

Large fish “Large fish in small bowls…” was how she put it. A junior in a creative writing course, she and her classmates had been tasked with developing a metaphor to describe their own eyes, then somehow to create a poem around that image. Her poem, a lucid and highly imaginative extended metaphor grappling with self-understandingContinue reading “Large fish”

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”

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”