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 …
This past month has been a very difficult one for many students, parents, and teachers in the Independent Education Program. With the passing of Isaac Holt, we lost an important part of our community. His passing also highlights our concern for all students who deal with suicidality and our desire to see all of our …
Years ago I was running a summer debate camp and a father of one of the students came to pick up his son. We got to chatting and he asked me what I did for a living. I told him that what I was doing at the camp was what I do for a living. …
Can we all take a moment to just appreciate how great co-ops are? I’ve interacted with so many over the years and the people who run them are so dedicated and benefit their communities so much. They provide low cost flexible options for homeschoolers, they are often the beating heart of social connection for homeschooled …
As far as I can tell, it is widely agreed that critical thinking is an educational good, a key academic outcome, and even a core academic skill. What is less widely agreed upon is what critical thinking is. This isn’t so much because there is a fierce debate raging in academia about the definition of …
My debate teacher in high school was one of three or four teachers who had a big impact on me that has extended well beyond the classroom. I learned so much and grew so much in that class, it really feels like it changed the trajectory of my life. Not just because I’ve ended up …
An interesting bit of research published by the Learning Policy Institute indicates that, while teachers continue to progress in their skill level throughout the entirety of their career, there is a particularly large jump in teacher ability in the first four years of teaching. As I think back on my own teaching career, I see …
In her viral essay in 2014, Pippa Biddle tells a story from her time on a humanitarian trip to Tanzania as a teenager. In the story, she and other girls from her private school are building a library for an orphanage. They would spend six hours each day laying bricks for the library. Apparently they …
It’s curriculum time! Just about now teachers all over, including in the homeschooling community, are creating, updating, tweaking, and generally getting their curriculum ready for next year. In that vein, I have a suggestion that I hope will be helpful to those working on their curriculum. In college I learned a theory of interpersonal communication …