Little meaningful academic learning happens when students’ prerequisite needs go unfulfilled. I often cite the work of psychologist Abraham Maslow in these matters. His famous Hierarchy of Needs explains that cognitive and aesthetic needs (those addressed by academic instruction) can only become ripe for fulfillment when more fundamental needs are met. Assuming that schools see [...]
The best teachers lead classrooms not merely by teaching but by facilitating. They not only create learning experiences; they also create circumstances for learning experiences to come about in various forms. Even better, they create environments that sustain learning on their own. Or perhaps the phenomenon is not as spontaneous and magical as it sounds. [...]
Students represent the most overlooked resource not only in a typical school, but in most communities at large.
By the time I was nine years old, I knew that Hank Aaron had hit 755 career home runs, that Ty Cobb had a lifetime batting average of .367, that Roger Maris had belted 61 home runs in 1961–a single-season record. I knew which baseball teams were in which major league, and I knew for [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on March 15, 2012: It is a simple truth: staggering amounts of money—in excess of $600 billion—are spent each year on educating our nation’s children, and as a result, our public school system operates under an enormous burden of scrutiny. Political sticks and carrots—like No Child Left Behind and Race [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on October 2, 2011: I have been a teacher now for over twenty years, and I have split my career between the middle- and high-school levels. Five years ago, I decided to pursue a second master’s degree, this one in school administration, and I attended the Rutgers University Graduate School [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on June 12, 2011:When it comes to educating our children, all stakeholders need to remind themselves once in a while of things they must do in order to ensure success. In this post, I share five things that I have learned from my colleagues over the course of my career [...]
Originally published on Open Salon on April 9, 2011: Recently, I have given a great deal of thought to a particular tendency in our culture that has powerful implications, not only for my work as a teacher, but also for society as a whole. A personal anecdote serves as an introduction. For about twenty years [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on March 3, 2011: Any true education blog must, in this moment, provide commentary on public policy set at the state level and its impact on public education. Let the highest profile examples and the obvious points come first: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is clearly targeting teachers. He is attacking [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on January 30, 2011: The initial post on this blog raised some questions to be taken up at a later date. Now might be a good time to explore some realities that have emerged in the modern public school classroom—realities that may not be entirely clear to people who have [...]
Real Teaching 