(See the first post in this series – Common Sense Learning.) Education should be shaped around the students, not the other way around. When I taught in a public high school, my colleagues and I were often given opportunities to write curriculum for our respective departments for a fee. Not only did it seem like the curricula were continually being written … Read More
Common Sense Standard (CSS) # 1
(See the first post in this series – Common Sense Learning.) Education is training; not a performance, game or race to the top. It shouldn’t make or break anyone, but it should shape and build everyone. The way I see it, no one passes or fails in training. They simply get more or less out of it. Training equips, but … Read More
Common Sense Learning
“Common Core-aligned” has become the quality control test by which we measure a legitimate education. A quick Google search will reveal droves of businesses selling academic resources and programs on the basis of their “alignment.” Teachers are feeling constant pressure to “hit the standards,” standards that are meant to get everyone on the same page. And yet, I think the … Read More
Knowledge: Pay It Forward
During my mid-twenties, I played drums in a band where everyone else was ten years older than me. They were good players and songwriters; organized and well-resourced. I became a better player by osmosis, and learned a lot about managing bands and booking gigs. My bandmates also gave me plenty of insight and perspective about — for lack of a … Read More
Well-Rounded?
In a blog post about misunderstandings, Seth Godin wrote this: And anyone who has been through high school has been reminded how important it is to be well-rounded. But Nobel Prize winners, successful NGO founders and just about everyone you admire didn’t get that way by being mediocre at a lot of things. It got me thinking. It’s nearly an … Read More
Move Over, Rigor
Years ago, a good friend of mine said something that just stuck with me. “I could care less about rigor”—surprising words from an honors-level high school teacher. “What I care about is vigor.” I realized that she had assumed a completely new intention for challenging students in their learning. Rather than trying to get them to work hard at hard … Read More
Teaching Character vs. Compliance
Educating children can look and feel a lot like raising them. It is certainly not the same as parenting—I say that as an educator and a parent. However, the purpose of parenting and educating are very much aligned. The word “educate” means “to lead out”—to lead out into the world, into adulthood, into a future. I think it’s important that … Read More
The Importance of Play
As a writing teacher, I love helping writers free themselves of certain not-so-great writing habits. It’s easy to trap yourself as a writer, going down well-worn paths, following forms and ideas already been done. Once you believe a poem or story should look a certain way, if you’re not careful, all your poems look that way. And where did you … Read More
The Gardener and the Carpenter
This analogy refers to different styles of raising a child. A “gardener” tends to the fertility of the soil—the access to sunshine, water and minerals allowing for the best development of his charge, while the “carpenter” has a fixed idea of the desired outcome—he cuts, shapes, smooths and joins his raw material until the final product has emerged. The book … Read More
The Power of Believing You Can Improve
There’s so much talk these days about the need for children to develop resilience and perseverance, to learn to be open to failing and trying again, to be willing to put in the effort when something is hard, to be up for a challenge. I don’t want to oversimplify, but I believe that Carol Dwek’s ideas are a big part … Read More