Posts Tagged ‘teaching’
If the teacher tells you that your child is not gifted, it’s more likely that it’s the teacher who is not gifted.
The most common response to a piece I wrote last month entitled 12 Things Teachers Think But Can’t Always Say to Parents was a suggested addition to the list. It was phrased in many ways, oftentimes sarcastically, and it generally went something like this: Your child is not as gifted as you think he or…
Read MoreTeachers of writing at any level: Read this immediately. Nothing is more important.
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Patrick Modiano, who had this to say about the writing process during his acceptance speech: Writing is a strange and solitary activity. It is a little like driving a car at night, in winter, on ice, with zero visibility. You have no choice, you cannot go…
Read MoreA student wrote something that made me cry while reading it aloud. And thanks to the rules of my “Make your teacher cry” contest, my tears were caught on video.
For the past five years, I have offered a challenge to my fifth grade students: Write something that makes me cry. The contest was born from Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog, a book I once read to my students but no longer do because I always get weepy at the end. There is nothing wrong…
Read More12 Things Teachers Wish They Could Say to Parents
Parent-teacher conferences begin for me this week. I will sit down with parents and students and discuss academic progress, effort, behavior, and the students’ prospective futures in middle school and beyond. I like parent-teacher conferences. I have had excellent relationships with the vast majority of my parents over the years, and in some ways, the…
Read MoreLess lecture. More learning.
In 2013, I did a TED Talk entitled “Speak Less. Expect More.” Unfortunately, the audio engineer failed me that day, and the recording was poor. Although my voice is discernible in the video, the audio is of such low quality that the talk never received any real attention despite initial excitement by the organizers to…
Read MoreFour things to consider before dating a coworker: An office romance with my future wife.
Jackie Zimmerman of Time’s Money section writes about four things to consider before dating a coworker. The last coworker who I dated was my wife. When we started dating back in March of 2004, she was teaching in a classroom one door down from mine. A friend and colleague now teaches in Elysha’s old classroom,…
Read MoreIn the unlikely event that my books, films, and musicals don’t make me a wealthy man, I have a back-up plan more than 350 people strong.
Theologian Adam Clarke once said: “The old proverb about having too many irons in the fire is an abominable old lie. Have all in, shovel, tongs, and poker.” I couldn’t agree more. I like to have as many irons in the fire as possible, hoping that one or more will eventually make me a rich…
Read MoreThis guy is too damn young to be teaching.
A student from my very first class, way back in 1999, sent me this photo. It’s actually a screen grab from a video that they were watching. It’s me, of course. I was probably 29 or 30 at the time. My first and only thought was this: How could anyone hire someone so young to…
Read MoreThe prize for my latest writing contest is the threat of tears and possible humiliation. No wonder my students are writing up a storm.
It’s that time of year again when I encourage my students to make me cry. Parents and teachers often ask me about how my students so consistently fall in love with writing. The answer to this question could probably fill a book, but here is one tiny example: Each week I sponsor one or more…
Read MorePresentation consultant for hire
Over the past four years, I have written quite a bit about my hatred of meetings. Regardless of the context, the majority of the meetings that I have been required to attend over the course of my lifetime have been ineffectively designed and poorly run. I’ve admonished presenters to not be ordinary. I’ve begged the…
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