Tell your story
Writing can change the world. It has. It does. This is the line in Amsterdam outside Anne Frank’s house. Why are they here? She told her story.
We don’t ask; we tell
We don’t ask students to write. We tell them what to write. We don’t ask students to create. We tell them what to make. We don’t ask students to envision. We tell them our vision. We don’t ask students to design. We tell them how to format. We don’t ask students to read. We tell …
Restless Spirit
I am a runner. I can say that now that I have run in a number of races and completed two half marathons. Notice I didn’t use an adjective to describe what kind of runner I am. I didn’t say good or fast, but rather just said I am a runner. I have a nice …
The End of An Era or Not?
For one of my German lessons today, we read an article about Steve Jobs’ resignation. Jobs said: Es ist nicht die Aufgabe der Verbraucher, zu wissen, was sie wollen. (It’s not the responsibility of consumers to know was they want) when asked why he didn’t do market research about what consumers would buy. It’s radical, …
Creature Comforts
When I was young, I had a blanket that I took everywhere with me. I use the term blanket loosely. In reality, it was a full length silk nightgown. I called it my night night because I had to have to go night night. Pretty clever, right? My night night and I were inseparable. I …
Ask Why
Arne Duncan in today’s Town Hall Twitter Meeting said: When you have a school with that big of a gain, then you either have a shining star that should be replicated or you have to deal with the tough reality that something bad is going on. He was referring to schools that have been caught cheating on …
I am changed.
Dear Merianna, The call changes everything. The called leave one classroom to enter another. . . The called leave home. This is the beginning of the email to notify me that I was accepted to Divinity School. One of my friends recently said to me, “I admire you so much for taking the risk and …
Dear Teachers
Although I’m a big believer in personally designing my curriculum each year, there is one lesson that I have always and will always teacher whether I am teaching 5th graders in America or 12th graders in Germany. John Mayer wrote “Waiting on the World to Change.” The first two verses and the chorus are: “Waiting …
A Bouquet of Sharpened Pencils
I heard the last squeals of summer from the kids at the pool today. It reminded me of how strange it is to not be at the store frantically buying composition books and folders. I’ve just received my acceptance to Gardner-Webb Divinity School! I am going back to school this fall and will be the …
Something has slipped
A college education professor has to advise her teacher candidates not to connect with their students because of the “Facebook Law:” “It’s just better not to connect that way,” Talbut said. She said she thinks one thing schools could do to benefit students and teachers when it comes to communicating online would be for them …