I’m sure you’ve had times when you were unable to do what you told people you were going to do. Maybe you accidentally scheduled two things for the same time, and couldn’t possibly keep both appointments. Maybe what you thought would be no problem turned out to be impossible, or at least involved more effort…
I’m tutoring a nine year old boy named Alex. He doesn’t have all the skills and knowledge other children his age have, and his parents hope that he’ll catch up with them a little by working with me. I spoke with his mother and two of his teachers to find out what to focus on…
Last year, Laura, who was eight years old, was at recess, watching children climb to the top of a metal structure. As successful children got to the top, some stayed there for a while and looked around, and some immediately slid down the pole they’d climbed up. Either way, it looked like fun. It was…
I’m quite glad there’s school, and I’m quite glad I’m allowed to be there. Much of what happens there is fun and worthwhile to me. As for some of the mindless conventions school has, I used to think I went along with them so that I’d get good grades and graduate, and later, so that…
When I first started teaching elementary school, two children in my class were quite sure that they wanted to be paleontologists when they grew up. They’re grown up now, and I doubt whether either one of them is a paleontologist. Maybe, but probably not. People tend to change their minds a lot. When I was…
A teacher once asked me to help a girl named Jezebel practice the times tables. Once a day, the class played a game that required knowledge of times tables. Children had to answer quickly, so that it would be clear that they were not figuring out answers – just knowing them. Learning the times tables…
I went to summer school twice, as a student: I went to take biology, so that I could take chemistry in my sophomore year and be done with science – spend my junior and senior years taking courses I liked more. And I took driver education so that I could get cheaper insurance when I…
Children (and adults) say a lot with their faces. Today I spent a few minutes watching children’s faces as Lorraine, their teacher, was talking with the class. Lorraine asked a question, and Zeke volunteered an answer. His answer was not even close, and a few children laughed. Not enough to get Lorraine to reprimand them…
When we learn how to be teachers, we learn many rules of thumb. Some of them contradict each other, and we have to decide which rules are appropriate for which situations. Once, there was a third-grader who was out of control, yelling, taking people’s hats and throwing them outside, and driving children and adults a…
I remember the first time a very young child came to me and started a story with “Mr. Blue, when I was little…” I did manage to keep myself from laughing out loud, but I thoroughly enjoyed hearing that opening line. There I was, over twenty years old, hearing a six year old child reminisce…