In 1984 and 1992, respectively, Ted Sizer, in his seminal works Horace’s Compromise and Horace’s School, argued that there was such a thing in a teacher’s class load as an optimal number of students for educational gains and teacher effectiveness. That number was 75. That’s right. 75 students per teacher. In those days, early in my career, English teachersContinue reading “Educational Fantasy #3: Two Teachers in Every Classroom”
Tag Archives: teaching
Educational Fantasy #2: Real and Effective Interventions and Alternatives for Students Who Do Not Function Well in School
Public schools take all comers, don’t they? And that’s as it should be. Those of us who support and desire a healthy public school system believe that this is a fundamental principle that makes a democracy viable, that all our citizens deserve equal access to an educational experience that will grow them into literate, responsible,Continue reading “Educational Fantasy #2: Real and Effective Interventions and Alternatives for Students Who Do Not Function Well in School”
Educational Fantasy #1: The Gradeless Classroom
This spring I have the good fortune of having a competent and enthusiastic teacher intern who is taking responsibility for a number of my classes. It has afforded me some time: some time to do especially good work for the students that remain solely my responsibility, some time to write a poem or two orContinue reading “Educational Fantasy #1: The Gradeless Classroom”
#265: Thirty Days, Day Twelve, Day Four, Day Two
Lately, I’ve found that my days are numbered. I find myself counting: Twelve days of the month with twelve poems, easy to say, more difficult to do, and yet, I remain committed, have been committed, to the challenge of doing this every day for 30 days. Today is day four of another challenge that, coincidentally coincides andContinue reading “#265: Thirty Days, Day Twelve, Day Four, Day Two”
#232: The Writer Dreams of a Debilitating Incompetence
When I don’t drink my dreams are more vivid and sometimes that’s not good. Last night I dreamt I was workshopping a piece of fiction with a large group of super smart writers. I had the manuscript in front of me and I was supposed to read a section of it out loud, but IContinue reading “#232: The Writer Dreams of a Debilitating Incompetence”
#227: What We Did Today
Today we were supposed to administer the PSAT to all sophomores and some juniors, but something went terribly wrong with the test booklets and the college board rescinded the exam. Suddenly, we had a half school day to kill. Our students, most of whom were expecting a day off, were “invited” by our administrators toContinue reading “#227: What We Did Today”
Final Exam: The Visitor
Let’s say, you’re beginning class for your seniors in Creative Writing on the very last day of the school year, their final exam. Let’s say you have asked them to do this relatively simple but quite risky thing, to read a piece of their fiction out loud to the class. Okay. And let’s say thatContinue reading “Final Exam: The Visitor”
The Great Student Growth Goal Debacle
Two years in a row now I have suffered through what I like to call The Great Student Growth Goal Debacle and I finally have to say something about it publicly. Cuz it’s driving me absolutely ass-bat crazy. Good teachers set goals for themselves, but all teachers have always set goals for their bosses, theContinue reading “The Great Student Growth Goal Debacle”
#223: A Course in Silence
My sophomores and I are studying the poetry of William Stafford and, as is inevitable in a study of poetry, at least from my perspective, we are also writing poems. An exercise slightly more open-ended than the corruption assignment, is to simply take inspiration from our man Stafford, either by attempting, as he did forContinue reading “#223: A Course in Silence”
#217: Poem on the 26th of the Month of April
My head is empty of poems; instead it’s full of Shakespeare, trying to hold on to my lines even though the run is over. I found myself running some of them today for no other reason than to see if I could do it. My mind is full of The Flaming Lips because I’ve been listening toContinue reading “#217: Poem on the 26th of the Month of April”
michael jarmer 