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429. Tempus Fugit?
One of the ideas adults like to think of as wisdom is the idea of the brevity of life, together with the importance of taking things slowly: “Time flies.” “This, too, shall pass.” “Look before you leap.” “All good things take time.” That’s easy for us to say. But I’m not sure it counts as…
86. Peer Pressure
There are things you’d like to do all the time, but you don’t do them in public. And things you never want to do, but you do them in public. There may even be behaviors you rule out entirely in both public and private, but you harbor secret fantasies. And the reason? It’s against the…
282. Showtime
I’ve seen many good student teachers being observed by their supervisors. And they seldom show their supervisors how good they are. Instead, they try to imagine what their supervisors want to see, and as long as the supervisors are there, they put on the show. When the ordeal is over, and the spotlight is turned…
270. My Khmer Hour
Each week, I spend an hour in a small room with seven children whose first language was Khmer, and their teacher, whose first language was also Khmer. She teaches them to read and write Khmer. At first, I didn’t think I’d have much of a role to play in this class. I know two Khmer…
363. Form and Function
Some children want to know why neatness and correct spelling have to be such a big deal. After all, they know what they mean by what they write, and so do plenty of other people. When they’re first starting to write, I agree with them. Of course it’s more important to communicate than to spell…
62. What’s Important?
Children can get quite upset about things that may not seem very important to us. Having the right pencil, sharpened just right. Being called on in class. Getting to show the class the thing you found outside yesterday. All of a sudden, there is a distraught look, a gush of tears, or a fight. And…