I wrote these short little pieces from various failure perspectives. There’s such an intriguing and wide variety of ways to fail. Maybe we gain a little bit of insight by reaching into these mindsets–even for a moment–provided we’re not cynical or simply poking fun. There’s nothing funny about it. Each represents an underlying problem thatContinue reading “#37: On Failure”
Category Archives: Education
#35: Sax and Violins
The title stolen from the Talking Heads tune; the subject stolen from real life. Censorship, or the urge to censor, is still alive and well. Sax and Violins The parent of the high school junior objects to all the sax and violins in the literature studied in English classes. She objects, in the case ofContinue reading “#35: Sax and Violins”
#33: After Teacher Appreciation Week
After Teacher Appreciation Week On Monday, several dozens of cookies were placed in the staff lounge, a gift from our secretaries and support staff. On Friday morning, the administrators served us hot coffee and fruit and pastries. We were still trying to polish off the cookies in the staff lounge, some of which are stillContinue reading “#33: After Teacher Appreciation Week”
Why I Am Totally Bugged By This Video
http://www.upworthy.com/student-freaks-out-in-front-of-his-class-and-says-what-were-all-thinking-about-our-education-system-3 The video making the rounds Thursday on facebook was of a young man who stands up in the middle of his classroom and goes on a little tirade against his teacher, accusing her, essentially, of malpractice, of making no effort to teach, of handing the kids packet after packet, worksheet after worksheet. He imploresContinue reading “Why I Am Totally Bugged By This Video”
#32: Gatsby? What Gatsby?
Gatsby? What Gatsby? is what Daisy says when she hears Jordan Baker mention the name to Nick, and it’s what teenagers used to say before they knew Leonardo DiCaprio was starring in the new Baz Luhrmann film. Suddenly, now, they want to read this novel because they recognize the name and because Leonardo is starring inContinue reading “#32: Gatsby? What Gatsby?”
#18: Let’s Pretend The Schoolhouse Is Broken
Let’s Pretend The Schoolhouse Is Broken I know! I have an idea: Let’s pretend the schoolhouse is broken even though we know it’s not so that a tiny number of thinkers and bureaucrats, of which I am one, can invent and impose new rigorous standards on educators and students (because certainly those educators and studentsContinue reading “#18: Let’s Pretend The Schoolhouse Is Broken”
Of Being Tired of Writing About Teaching
I think, at least for now, I’ve exhausted my brain and my “pen” regarding teaching, issues of public schooling, educational crisis, education reform. I know I will come back to it. It’s inevitable. But for the time being I feel like anything I have to say now will be a repeat of something I haveContinue reading “Of Being Tired of Writing About Teaching”
Of a Long Teacher Work Day on which Only a Third of the Work Gets Done
Today we were given a teacher work day on this last day before spring break. Awesome for students because they get an extra day off. Awesome for teachers, at least in our district, because the work day didn’t even fall at the end of a grading period, but rather, a couple of weeks before. SoContinue reading “Of a Long Teacher Work Day on which Only a Third of the Work Gets Done”
Of A Twelve Step Program for Young Cell Phone Addicts
I’m serious. There’s not a day that goes by any more when I don’t tell a student or several students, sometimes repeatedly in a single period, to put their cell phones away. And lately there hasn’t been a week that’s passed without a serious discussion around the lunch table about the need for some sortContinue reading “Of A Twelve Step Program for Young Cell Phone Addicts”
Of Neighborhood Schools and the Threat of Losing One
No decision has been made yet, but a couple of weeks ago now a letter went out from the North Clackamas School District leadership that the closure and consolidation of my son’s elementary school, my elementary school 40 some years ago, is on the table for next fall. Half of the kids at his schoolContinue reading “Of Neighborhood Schools and the Threat of Losing One”
michael jarmer 