Teaching and Learning
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Pluto: A Girl, A Grandfather, and A Teacher
Eighty-five years ago, 11-year-old Venetia Burney sat at breakfast with her grandfather, who was a university librarian at Oxford. He talked to her about the latest exciting news story, that a new planet had been discovered. A suitable name hadn’t yet been found, he pointed out. Venetia’s teacher had taught her students that the other… Continue reading
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High Stakes Kindergarten
A recent story about kindergarten and the Common Core in The Boston Globe got me steamed enough to write a letter to the editor. We teachers and administrators must speak out when articles like this one appear. I take seriously my responsibility to cultivate social justice in the world. The Common Core and other state… Continue reading
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Do Pets School at Work, or Work at School?
To mark Take Your Dog to Work Day (June 26), I offer this piece from 2010, published at Lesley University as “The Magic of Mario and G Force.” Learn what a difference pets make in the classroom. It’s a steamy spring afternoon in a city school. Twenty-six hot first graders in navy polo shirts plop onto the rug to hear their… Continue reading
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Math on National Fudge Day
When I heard that today was National Fudge Day, I dug out my grandmother’s recipe book to find “Fudge Without Cooking.” Grammy reused and recycled many things, including two pieces of plywood from her friend Mrs. Bagelmann’s husband, a pharmacist. Inside, she handwrote, typed, or taped recipes on stiff manila cardboard pages. Following a fudge… Continue reading
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Flag Day, Vexillology, and You
Did you celebrate Flag Day when you attended school? Perhaps classes gathered at a special assembly, or around the flagpole outside. The program was short and centered on patriotic songs and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, often led by a scout or a local official. Flag Day rarely requires an elaborate celebration and it is more powerful, I think, because… Continue reading
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