Because of some excellent teaching, or at least due to the absence of awful teaching, I became a writer. I almost wrote “compulsive” writer, but that makes it seem like a problem. Let’s see…Perhaps I’ll write “prolific” writer. No. That refers to quantity, but doesn’t convey my passion for writing. I’m sure there’s a word…
It is time for music to take its rightful place as a priority in schools – not replacing reading, writing, math, etc., but not eliminated by them, either. Music is a way to access concepts that are hard to access in other ways. And it’s how most of us learn the alphabet. It is fairly…
Jonathan Kozol once coined the phrase “didagenic learning disabilities” – learning disabilities caused by ineffective teaching. He borrowed the concept from the medical world. An iatrogenic disease is one caused by a doctor. I think these terms can be useful. I don’t think people become teachers in order to prevent children from learning, but we…
Do you remember the moment in Animal Farm when Napoleon (the Lenin pig) ordered the dogs to drive Snowball (the Trotsky pig) out of Animal Farm? Napoleon had taken charge of the education of the pups, and they had grown up loyal to Napoleon. I read the book in high school, and though I had…
Children get report cards. Teachers do them. Parents read them. Not me, though. I don’t have to put checks, numbers, and letters in the boxes, and I don’t have to write, “Mildred has been working hard to develop more self-control in class. I encourage her to keep up the effort,” or “Cedric responds to all…
I tried writing a brief article about Back-to-Basics movements. At first, it didn’t work. Back-to-Basics movements have been haunting me for twenty-five years, and my thoughts and feelings about them could fill up a book. They are based on points of view that are as hard to pin down as the “open classroom” concept. I…
Experience is not the best teacher. I never thought it was, but now that I’m experienced, I think I can say so, and maybe people will be more likely to listen. There isn’t a best teacher, and even if there were one, it wouldn’t necessarily be experience. Youthful energy and openness would be a contender….