by CHRIS BACON
Working at a private English academy in South Korea consistently highlights the benefits and pitfalls of education as a business. Though such a system has its ups and downs, one particular “up” is that to survive, a business must guarantee a quality product. In educational terms, this means fostering awesome teachers. [...]
by DAVID PAUL KLEINMAN
Spring semester is a semester of contrasts.
I teach a “bad class” and a “good class.” In bad class, students stroll in fifteen minutes late with veiny red eyes, reeking of cheap pot. In good class, a student who lives on a collective farm, who also writes excellent imitations of Tony Hoagland poems, [...]
by DAVID PAUL KLEINMAN
“Do you know why I’m calling?”
“No sir, I do not.”
“There’s been a complaint.”
“A complaint?”
“Yes, and while it isn’t a formal complaint, I just need to follow up to make sure our classrooms are. . .um. . .um. . .safe.”
“Safe?”
My first conversation with the English department chair went forty-five minutes. A parent had [...]
by GABRIELLE LENSCH PLASTRIK
I belong to the AP English list serve. Several times a year, teachers write in at their wits end because their students just don’t “get” poetry or because their students seem hesitant, scared, and reluctant. I resist replying to these list serve entries mostly because I don’t want to offend the teachers.
All [...]
by JESSE SCACCIA
I don’t have time to be a teacher right now.
I’m in grad school. I have a thesis due in less than two months. I have projects on the side I’m passionate about, such as this website. I have jobs on the side I need to keep in order to pay my bills.
I have [...]
Thanks to the hard work of a few ‘fed-up’ teachers, students, community members, and district staff, the I hella love Oakland community is doing something about the malignant federally subsidized food system. And, yes, this post is meant to make Oakland School District homies look good.
Part Five of an essay about leading a three week educational trip to Nicaragua with Bay Area teenagers.
by RYAN “BROWN” DALTON
I woke up this morning feeling sad. It took me a while to figure out why, and I still don’t know the fullness, but I realized Eric was on my mind. I probably had a dream about him that I do not remember. Eric was one of the first kids I met [...]
