Reflections on Teaching

Is your brain grass or a glass?

September 21st, 2009 · No Comments

Larry Ferlazzo did a post on an interesting lesson he did with his students to get them to think about their own brains. He wrote about it here, noting that many of his lowest students felt they were just “stupid”. I had done a similar lesson with one fourth grade class today, and shared this [...]

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Tags: practice/pedagogy

We value the goodness in every person…

May 28th, 2009 · No Comments

This line comes from the values statement at my congregation, and it got me thinking about whether I was really living up to that goal. This post is the result of some of that reflection and will included references to my religion in a way that I hope is not annoying or offensive.  As they [...]

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Tags: Uncategorized · communication · practice/pedagogy

Romancing the quantifiable

November 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

“Not every thing that can be measured is important. Not everything that is important cannot be measured” — Einstein
Brian Crosby at In Practice recently discussed the “safety” that educators can find in using set instructional programs. It got me thinking about how we love our numbers. Recent financial events show where an uncritical romance with [...]

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Tags: Uncategorized · politics/policy

Reflections on Week Two

September 16th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Due to the efficiency of most of my colleagues in getting students to return Internet Permission slips, most classes were in the computer lab this week. Last week was unusual because I was not in the lab. This week has had it’s own adjustments.
The rhythm of relationships with students is a little different for me, [...]

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Tags: reflection · weekinlab