I’ve been out of the classroom for just over two months and I still teach online as an adjunct. I’m certainly not anti-technology; in fact, technological connectivity is what has allowed me to move to a rural area and pursue my dual passions of outdoor recreation and teaching. But as I’m occupied with the minutiae … Continue reading Tech Hype: The Thing I Miss Least About Teaching
On Being and Seeming
(Following is the text of a little chapel talk I was asked to give to an upper school community). 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 … Continue reading On Being and Seeming
Empathy and Time Management
Compelled to watch a time-management TED talk at a meeting recently, I had the opportunity to reflect on the overlap between the speaker’s perspective and some issues I’ve been struggling with in the classroom this autumn, in particular our culture's seemingly diminishing capacity to engage in empathetic understanding and how best to encourage that understanding … Continue reading Empathy and Time Management
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
