Put this month’s article in the “simple and practical tools to make a classroom work” bucket. I want to present a question that is always on my mind when I’m teaching: How long has it been since my students have been active? It’s not a complex question and the reason for asking the question is …
I want to share several stories about students with you and at the end of each I invite you to consider this question- what does the student believe? Hopefully you’ll find the stories interesting and instructive. Afterward, I’ll explain why I’m sharing these stories. I had a student once who was in her beginning year. …
I had a conversation with a parent a few years ago which I’ve thought about many times since. She asked to talk because she said that she was worried about the way that her son was coming to see the world. He had been very patriotic and loved his country a great deal, she said. …
Think for a moment about the tyranny with which statistics could reign if we gave them sufficient credence. For example, research published by the National Library of Medicine indicates that Hispanic people, Ashkenazi Jews, and Africans are more than twice as likely to experience lactose intolerance as Europeans. Asians and Native Americans are approximately four …
I don’t really like giving unsolicited advice to parents. But in this article I’m going to. So I just want to begin by saying that I understand that teaching is very different from (not to mention easier than) parenting. Parenting is made up of complex interactions day after day that layer upon each other and …
Some students will make you feel like a great teacher no matter what you do. Success lives inside them so fully, it seems to spill over to you as a teacher. Some students reveal to you how good you are as a teacher. They’ll drink if you bring them to the water, but they’ll make …
Welcome to a new school year! I hope it is shaping up to be as exciting and fulfilling as I’m sure you’ve been planning all summer. May it be a wonderful year for you and your family. In my first article of the school year, I thought I would give you a window into my …
I’ve recently taught my daughter to ride her bike and it’s amazing how much of a vicarious thrill you can get by watching a four year old do something that you’ve been able to do since you were four. Honestly, I don’t even enjoy riding a bike very much at this point. But I sure …
Let’s think about reducing class size for a moment. Not as the substance of this article, but as a means of understanding an important principle. Smaller classes are often spoken of as a panacea to the ills in public education. Do you want better academic achievement? More individual attention? A more successful classroom? Reduce class …
I had an illuminating experience with my advanced debate classes this past month. I led an extended discussion over three weeks focused on the following question: What is the ideal classroom cell phone policy for the average high school classroom? If you don’t mind, maybe you could take thirty seconds and think about what comes …