The Learning Cooperatives are founded on the concept of making a life for yourself…living your dreams, not someone else’s. But in a culture chockful of prescribed paths and prepackaged dreams, how can we do that? It is probably more of an art than a science, but after listening to the stories of people who are living out their dreams, I’ve … Read More
Support and Stand By
In a previous post, Rethinking the Gaps, I argued that in trying to close the skill gaps that we fear children hold, we actually juxtapose pressuring kids and overprotecting them. We simultaneously push kids to check all the customary boxes while denying them the natural experiences of taking risk. Though we do it for good, this results in feelings of … Read More
Dream BIG and Find Home
I recently came across a social media meme that stated “If your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.” Have you ever had an idea that made your heart pound? Or a vision for the future that you were embarrassed to share because it’s just “too ridiculous”? Little children dream freely like this all the time. This one wants to … Read More
Rock Climbing and Fear
I hadn’t expected to be so afraid, and for a while I couldn’t figure out what I feared. Did I fear falling? Truthfully, not one bit. I trusted the equipment and the set-up completely. If anything, I probably have too much faith in man-made apparatuses; I’ve never been one to think the roller coaster might break down. Did I fear … Read More
Things Work Out
In my last post, I wrote about my refusal to proctor the standardized PARCC tests, which I equated to free falling. Here I’d like to talk about how I landed that fall. It was not at all through any special powers or skills of my own. I don’t have super cliff-jumping capabilities. People have told me I was courageous, but … Read More
Opting In
About this time last year I was free falling. I had refused to proctor the state mandated PARCC assessment and stood to lose my job as a NJ public school teacher of 13 years. In the words of my union lawyer whose counsel I desperately sought, I was “putting myself in front of a buzzsaw.” I remember how rattled I … Read More
Rethinking the Gaps
I recently watched the Dreamworks film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron with my daughters. At the climax [spoiler alert], Spirit, a wild horse, and his rider scale a plateau then leap across a deep divide to more open land, leaving their pursuers faint-hearted and humbled. Despite being an animated feature, it was terrifying to watch because I had grown rather … Read More