Over a career of more than 30 years, I have taught some literature that has confronted students from late elementary grades straight through high school with the reality that human beings can do brutal things to each other. In works of literary nonfiction, as well as in fictionalized depictions of abuse and atrocities that we [...]
As I walked to school yesterday, the sky threatened a drizzle, but I had my umbrella with me. I find significance in the ambiguous: rain or no rain, winter or spring. It trains my mind to receive subtleties. And I saw what I did not expect. Some blooms are beginning to come out. These were [...]
Many of my friends, family, and colleagues know how rewarding I find my career. It has not always been easy, nor has my profession always been kind to me. But my work has brought blessings to my life that I will always cherish. Today, I offer a brief meditation on my reasons for teaching. I [...]
At my school, the marking period ends this Thursday. I usually require students to write a reflection of their learning experiences so they can assess their growth. Part of this includes a review of how their skills and capacities have expanded, but another consideration altogether can make all the difference. I have an old wooden [...]
One vision for me of a pleasant Sunday starts with forbidding weather. It would rain, and depending on the season, it might be cold and raw as well. In any event, the gray and wet would hardly invite. I might be alone or with a companion–someone who does not mind a day indoors once in [...]
I relish the elegance of simplicity, and I savor good food. After a friend prepared this straightforward shrimp dish for me, I asked for the recipe. When we cooked the dish together, I admired it all the more for its ease and flavor. It gives me pleasure to share it here. Ingredients: three tablespoons extra [...]
We breathe, eat, keep warm, Clothe ourselves, and take shelter, We escape predators, fend off invaders, Avoid precipices and poisons. We find ourselves in family, take up with companions, We step out into the tribe. We assert, compete, amass our fortunes; We lose and win; we identify. We explore and interrogate; We discover and understand. [...]
As a little boy in Piscataway, New Jersey, I would walk home from Eisenhower Elementary School on Stelton Road and see in the distance to the north a long ridge. I now know this feature to be the Watchung Mountains. Of course, the name might seem misleading, as the maximum elevation is only a few [...]
I received an important reminder some weeks ago regarding the need to regulate the social energy in a classroom. In my own room, I set the level on the first day of school. Cues can be friendly and still be effective. A student calls out a question or comment. I reply with, “You feeling all [...]
As an English teacher, I strongly advocate subtlety and nuance in language. Dichotomies often help me to draw out concepts. I have heard many adults–teachers included–say things such as, “Sometimes we need to let kids be kids.” Most people understand the rough idea of that statement, tautological though it may be. The same adults, however, [...]
Real Teaching 