Yesterday in class, my student Mike had clearly lost faith. I didn’t know why. But I could see that he was lost. I had asked the entire class to write for a page in response to the question: “Who are you in a group?” followed by “What do you fear about working in groups?” They…
Tag: teaching
In Praise of My Homeschool Homies
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I used to be one of those annoying, know-it-alls about education. “School is the only place for a child to learn what it is REALLY like out there in the world.” I’d sneer. Well, then, what happened was: I actually MET people who homeschool. I spent time around their kids. I learned more about how…
Charisma Will Get You… Somewhere
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“Lenny” walked into my classroom today with NOTHING in his hands. “Bye Lenny. Go get yours books, paper, a pen.” On a scale from 1 to 10, I adore Lenny, at like a 9.2. He is charming, funny, he pays attention. He has that “It” factor as a human being that exudes from his pores.…
On Rivers of Stone
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Tomorrow I start teaching again which would normally make me feel as though I am lost to free time for a few months. But, I love teaching. And I love my tutoring job, and I love the time I spend with my students and colleagues on campus, where, for the few peanuts tossed to me,…
Embracing our Inner Madonna
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It’s another We Scout Wednesday! Thanks Tara! Everyday my life is being reformed by the choice to be “teacher of children,” big and small, at work and at home. So I was glad Tara asked: What will you teach the new generation about creativity? Every single one of us must embrace our inner-Madonna. The pop…
You Have to Be Taught
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A Guest Post by Contributor Ellen Hardy, written 9 years ago this week. “Careful the things you say, children will listen…” – Stephen Sondheim from Into the Woods At this terrible and troubling time in our nation’s history, a great fear of mine is that through our anger we will become like our enemy. Our…
“It’s All Up in the Air”
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Valerie Weaver-Zercher’s musings on “The Philo-Lilac” (available only in hardcopy… not yet available online) in Orion Magazine this month poses the question I am pondering myself– what’s that emptiness and loss of rejection in the work world– even when it’s something you are pretty sure you don’t want? Previously I blogged about the political in-fighting…
No Apologies
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The admin in the English Department thinks I am too hard on my students, I can tell by the look on her face. I posted a note on mailbox that it is “Closed for portfolio submissions.” This implies, of course, that I haven’t received all of them, and that some of the students (the ones…
