A provocative post by Andrea Hernandez has had my mind in a swirl for the last few days. Honestly, I think it is probably one of the more important posts I’ve read this year, and the issues that she begins to raise in this piece have been at the forefront of my mind since I began this little independent venture of mine. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I worry too much. It’s my…
Jamie McKenzie touches upon what they aren’t in his text Learning to Question, Learning to Wonder (FNO Press, 2005): “Unfortunately, the term is often bandied about with little rigor, definition or clarity so that many pedestrian and insignificant questions slip in under the term simply because they are large, sweeping and grand in some respects. Essential questions are not simply BIG questions covering lots of ground.” This distinction caught my attention for several reasons, but I’m…
Last night, I joined the rest of our nation in watching an African American accept a presedential nomination. This was remarkable in several thousand different ways, and I can leave it to those who are more eloquent and informed than I am to count them all today. Here’s something cool that happened in the middle of it: Laura came downstairs, unable to sleep. This was not cool in so much as I prefer my children to…
I spent today exploring the practice of literature circles with a group of English Language Arts teachers from across our region. It’s always interesting when public and nonpublic school teachers come together to collaborate around any one best practice, but the disparity between these two factions of our education system with regard to resources is fairly outrageous. A good amount of time was spent discussing the beauty of the classroom library and the grief that some teachers feel…
Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain, and gathering them about him, he taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor. “Blessed are the hungry. “Blessed are those who mourn. “Blessed are the oppressed. . . ” Then Simon Peter said, “Do we have to write this down?” And Andrew said, “Are we supposed to know this?” And James said, “I don’t have papyrus with me.” And Philip said, “Will we have a test…