Teaching
Dane Best: Child hero
Dane Best, age 9, ended the ban on snowball fights in his hometown of Severance, Colorado last week. After discovering the 100 year old law during a field trip to town hall, the young activist went to work, lobbying successfully to have a law banning snow balls repealed. Best told the town board that if…
Read MoreBatman is depressed. Also, you are bad or good depending on how you eat your lunch.
One of the great benefits of teaching is the conversations that you have with children. A child at recess today showed me her “secret hideout” for drawing pictures. “Only villains have secret hideouts,” I said. “You must be a villain.” “What about Batman?” the girl countered. “He has a hideout.” “Yeah,” I said. “But isn’t…
Read MoreMany jobs with one important thing in common
It’s been a strange and busy weekend for me. On Friday night, my wife Elysha and I produced an unforgettable Speak Up storytelling event at Infinity Hall in Hartford. Our near-sellout audience enjoyed what might have been our best show ever, headlined by United States Senator Chris Murphy who told a fantastic story about an embarrassing…
Read MoreMy children show me a world I often fail to see
One of my favorite thing about kids – mine as well as other people’s children – is how often I see the world in a new way through their innocent, creative, untainted eyes. Like this. Who know raspberries could be so versatile? So decorative? I’ve always thought of raspberries as a nonsense fruit. They last…
Read MoreNever trust alliteration
Elysha is looking for a teaching job for the first time in 9 years. Now that the kids are off to school and settled into their routines, it’s time for her to return to the classroom. Recently, she was looking at a school district that expects classroom instruction to be “rigorous, relevant, and respectful.” Excellent…
Read More“Lockdown Lockdown” should not need to be a song.
I was student-teaching when the Columbine massacre occurred in April of 1999. I remember sitting with fourth graders on the morning after the shooting, listening to them talk about everything they had seen on television. It was unimaginable. Then, seemingly overnight, it became all too imaginable as school shootings, especially those involving mass casualties, became all…
Read MoreMorning conversation scares me.
First words from my daughter today: “Daddy, I noticed the word repair on a bottle next to your bed. Did you know that the r is an r- control syllable exception because the r is supposed to say ‘er,’ but in this case, it sounds like ‘air.’ Neat. Huh?” I’m not sure which is more disconcerting: That…
Read MoreA former student’s advice on avoiding procrastination
A former student visited my class last month to offer advice to my fifth graders as they prepare to embark on their journey to middle school. His advice was fascinating: In order to avoid procrastination, fill your life with after-school activities. Do as much as possible. Sports, drama, student government… anything and everything. Pack your…
Read MoreSnow days: One thing I love. One thing I hate.
I’m an elementary school teacher, and today I am home because of snow. One thing I love about snow days and one thing I hate: Many (and maybe most) teachers despise snow days, fully aware of the long, summer days that each snow day costs them. Many parents despise snow days for this same reason, and also…
Read MoreThey couldn’t play tic-tac-toe because of bandwidth.
Yes, this is absolutely the worst game of tic-tac-toe every played. The fact that this all happens in front of thousands of people is even more embarrassing. But it’s also an outstanding demonstration on the nature of bandwidth. Every human being has a certain amount of bandwidth available to them at one time. Some people…
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