This was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. There was great bonding with some of my favorite students — both the kind you’d want and the kind borne out of stressors you wouldn’t want to wish on your worst enemy. I do wonder where the middle school kids are today. This …
Continue reading “France 2002 Journal: There can be only one mishulman”
I found it hard to imagine that I would make it, but today marks the 100th consecutive day of blogging. I probably shouldn’t have taken on the task of posting something every day, but once I had done daily posts for a few weeks, it seemed like taking a day off would be dangerous. Sort …
I couldn’t resist the title, an allusion to a Tony Richardson film (and Alan Sillitoe short story), but it really doesn’t work at all: the long-distance trips we’ve done in HHS Debate have been amazing experiences. I’ve gotten to see parts of the country (and world!) that I wouldn’t have gotten to otherwise, and we’ve …
In the fall of 2003, indie singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died at age 34 after a series of brilliant, powerful, and painful albums. His lyrics often focused on the intertwining subjects of beautiful losers, mental illness, and drug addiction and cut to my core. Elliott had become my favorite songwriter and performer, particular after I got …
When the subject of second chance learning was first introduced to me, I was pretty skeptical. My initial response was to see this as a means of coddling students and making sure that they all had higher grades. Although I’ve changed my views pretty significantly, I think there is an element of truth to the …
When it comes time to teach students about political ideology, I start with a focus on their own perspectives. Some of my students took AP Government because they already have a highly developed sense of their ideology — every year there are progressives, conservatives, self-styled moderates, and typically a Libertarian or an anarchist or two. …
A month ago I wrote about my five- or six-year involvement with a music forum on Facebook called Theme Music. I was a musical hack at best at the beginning, singing reasonably well to sub-par guitar playing at shows at my high school and in my basement office for myself. During that time I improved …
Sunday – I was home but I have no idea what I was doing. I guess watching TV shows? It is lost to history as I had a rare day with nothing on the calendar. Monday – In US History, I showed the first episode of the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” which does a tremendous …
Continue reading “The Week in Review (11/10/19 to 11/16/19)”
Every day a teacher has to make dozens, probably hundreds of decisions. Some of them are elementary in nature, but others can have all sorts of ramifications, but the decisions often have to be made in an instant. Here are ten questions I asked myself this past week, and how I ultimately answered — some …
In the early days of Model Congress, we enjoyed our trips to New Haven, Connecticut to participate in the Yale Model Congress each November. The first couple of experiences were very positive, the students had enjoyed writing their own legislation in advance of the conference, working in both committees and full sessions, and just being …
Continue reading “A Winter’s Night and a Motel Room Apocalypse”
Fenster on Education