(Following is the text of a little chapel talk I was asked to give a while back). First, a translation: Esse quam videri means “to be, rather than to seem.” We might also say, “To be rather than to appear to be,” or “value the authentic over the superficial”. It’s a great motto and I … Continue reading On Being and Seeming
Some Thoughts on Charlottesville and the History Teacher
This is just a quick reflection as I prepare for the new school year by thinking about lessons, students, and the rage that would drive a man barely out of his teens to step on a gas pedal with enough deliberate force to kill and wound other humans. It’s difficult to overstate how important it … Continue reading Some Thoughts on Charlottesville and the History Teacher
On Being an Outsider
I was asked to contribute a little talk to a school assembly on the theme of being an outsider, so this is what I said: One late-summer Saturday when I was about twenty-two years old, I found myself standing at the checkout counter of a grocery store in rural Missouri, feeling very suddenly and … Continue reading On Being an Outsider
Becoming Better Together: Re-Thinking The Faculty In-Service
Photo Credit The academic summer vacation is a long, tranquil mix of relaxation and productivity. Murder mysteries vie for attention with monographs, time with family alternates with professional development, and the active badgers the contemplative to get up and out, exploring and doing. Active, we’re nagged by a feeling of intellectual irresponsibility, while contemplative hours … Continue reading Becoming Better Together: Re-Thinking The Faculty In-Service
Six Things To Do Over Winter Break Besides Schoolwork
A colleague recently mused aloud about how much homework to assign his students over the winter holiday break. I blurted out the only sensible reply that came to mind: “Good heavens: none!" I will likely do a bit of grading and planning over the break, but that’s my job; it’s why I get the big bucks … Continue reading Six Things To Do Over Winter Break Besides Schoolwork
AP History: The Wrong Kind of Rigor
Anyone evaluating the role of Advanced Placement (AP) history in a school’s curriculum ought consider the following questions: What are the central aims of a good history class? What sort of history class would you want to take? What should the promotion of critical thinking and intellectual rigor look like in a history classroom? Photo … Continue reading AP History: The Wrong Kind of Rigor
Detecting Baloney about “Schools of the Future”
As part of a brief project before our study of the Scientific Revolution, I recently had my sophomore high school students read Carl Sagan’s “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” from his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World. The aim of this mini-unit was to provide students with some tools with which to sharpen their critical … Continue reading Detecting Baloney about “Schools of the Future”
