Ruminations on teaching, learning, and the science of getting better.
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash I found myself actually asking for “a seat at the table” this week (in a conversation about a potential job). I guess this post by Simon Ensor resonated so much in my mind that it came out in my speaking. Simon asks us to consider what it means to have a seat... Continue Reading →
Some people believe that school--by its very design--is boring. Alan Caruba, calls schools “the original boring institute” and says that they are “the place where we train young people to be bored and to bore others.” We find many images of this theme played out over and over in popular media. And there are many... Continue Reading →
I was in a fourth-grade class last week, providing support as part of a substitute assignment as an English Language Development teacher. The classroom teacher asked me to float around and provide support wherever it was needed. The students were all involved in independent work at their desks and most seemed to... Continue Reading →
Photo by Alexa Mazzarello on Unsplash When I was six, I decided to be a writer… When I grew up. I was a hippy child And my tribe was not big on practice So I had an idea That someday…. I would be a writer Then, I went to college And decided that someday was now Except... Continue Reading →
I had the privilege of sitting with a group of boys last week and talking with them about why they didn't read. "I don't like reading," was the first response from each of them. Then, "I don't see any value in it," "I'm lazy," "I only read what I have to for school," and "It's... Continue Reading →
Photo by Mark Basarab on Unsplash “Words shape our reality and in teaching define our practice. We cannot hope to create something that opens new possibilities or transforms our pedagogy unless we abandon this language for something new.” -Mark Sonneman Mark Sonnemann challenged us to come up with one word that could replace accountability in shaping our reality... Continue Reading →
Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash Patrice’s father told me I was racist. I didn’t believe him then. He did not know me. He did not know my history. Or see into my heart. How could giving his daughter a failing grade be racist? She was the one who didn’t do the work. The principal of... Continue Reading →
Somewhere in a box in my garage, I have a picture of my footprint in the sand of an unremembered beach. I’ve kept that picture over the years not to remember that day or that place, but because the picture itself fascinates me. My brain can see two different things when I look at... Continue Reading →
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash “When students have the chance to do work that matters, and to present that work to people who matter to them, it makes students believe that they matter.” Mari Jones For some of us, school learning comes fairly easily and we don’t have to work too hard to come up with... Continue Reading →
thoughts on education by Grant Wiggins
Change for the better
choice and voice literacy
In everything that my students and I do together, we strive to find ways to use reading and writing to make the world outside of our classroom a better place for all of us to be
Advancing the Theory and Practice of Self-Determined Learning
Complicating the canon and empowering students through poetry
Mercedes Schneider's Blog: Mostly Education, with a Smattering of Politics and Pinch of Personal
My world, its ups and downs
