There’s more to school than reading, writing, and arithmetic. School is perhaps a student’s first interaction with a social environment outside of his or her own family. It is important that we create environments in which students can grow into …
Everyone has a story. When we fail to understand others’ stories, we fail to understand their experiences, their perspectives, and their struggles. We can’t truly know someone without knowing his or her narrative. Case in point: I tutored a student …
Whether teaching or tutoring, a harsh truth awaits the instructor. At some point, a student is going to refuse to cooperate. That student might progress from being obstinate to being outright antagonistic. The instructor could have difficulty mustering the patience …
On my desk right now is a book titled Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland. I don’t plan to read it. In fact, I don’t even like wrestling. It’s on my desk waiting for …
Across much of America, spring means testing season. Students, parents, and even teachers tend to lament the season’s arrival. Standardized assessments remain controversial and polarizing. Most students will face them in one form or another in the latter half of …
A well-known adage in education suggests every teacher is a reading teacher. By extension, every teacher also might be a writing teacher. Writing serves different purposes across content areas. In a math class, writing might be less about crafting eloquent …
Snowflakes, fingerprints, whatever cliché you want to reference, we know all students are unique. The question is how do we educators avoid rote, the belief that students can obtain knowledge through inflexible repetition and memorization? I worked with a student …
Then end of the school year is approaching very quickly. This is the time when many students start slowing down or falling behind in classes. Think of this as the final leg of a race – you want to end …
Schools have the responsibility of providing a general education for the students in their charge, but they can do this most effectively when the have the support of parents. Parents typically want to be partners in the education of their …
What is ‘storytelling’? Telling stories, of course. In 2016, there are so many diverse, wonderful and sometimes overwhelming ways to do this. What I want to explore is traditional, oral storytelling, which has been a part of human life since …