Monthly Archives: July 2009
The Battle for Hearts and Minds: More Literal Than You Think
by ALISTAIR BOMPHRAY During my third year in the classroom, I was nearly the victim of a particularly well-played coup d’etat led by two girls who for some obscure (to me) reason decided they really did not like me. This … Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections, Essays
Reflection: Comb Your Hair (Boys) and Smile (Girls)
by JESSE SCACCIA Something that’s probably obvious by now to our regular readers is that I’m a little obsessed with teaching “the whole student.” Good grades and high standardized test scores don’t mean anything if our students aren’t passionate about … Continue reading
Filed under In The News
Bringing Joyful Back
Wanted to share with you all an excerpt from Linda Christensen’s poignant article, “Teaching for Joy and Justice,” from the most recent Rethinking Schools. I don’t typically like to excerpt things this long, but here Christensen earns a rare exception. She touches upon one of the central dilemmas of teaching, while offering a vision of education in which both parties, student and teacher, can feel a little better about themselves. Continue reading
Filed under Essays, In The News
Yo Teach: MC Shakespeare
by JESSE SCACCIA It’s summer. It’s a Monday. Screw it, we’re pulling out a video. Yo Teach: MC Shakespeare from Judd Apatow It’s from Will Ferrel’s website, and featuring the star of Rushmore. Enjoy!
Filed under Uncategorized
Those little cheaters at my local Catholic school
by JESSE SCACCIA It looks like a full third of seniors at Bishop Sullivan High School in Virginia Beach cheated on a test during the last weeks of school. And no, they weren’t passing answers by way of the Holy … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
The Value of an Extended Absence
by GABRIELLE LENSCH Private school students miss school a lot. No, I don’t mean that all of them miss school a lot, but there is a trend that I have noticed where at private schools, parents feel much more comfortable … Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections
The Schoolyard Foodie: Desert of Youth = Desert of Ideas
Steps 7-8 of a 12-step program to help public schools rid themselves of our systematic addiction to processed industrial food. Continue reading
Filed under The Schoolyard Foodie
Stalking our students on MySpace
by JESSE SCACCIA Summer vacation! Finally teachers can sleep in past 6 am, go to the bathroom whenever they feel like it, and cruise the Internet for hours and hours everyday. I love the Internet, but it is totally sin-spiring. … Continue reading
Filed under In The News
Feel-bad education, feel-good classrooms
by JESSE SCACCIA “I am convinced that historians will look back at our era of ever-higher standards and increasingly standardized instruction as a dark period in American education,” wrote Alfie Kohn, a well-known education writer, in his very interesting and … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
