If there’s anything to the idea of reincarnation, then I’m going to go way out on a limb and suggest that Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick might have once been the PR point man for the Greeks in their battle with Troy. I can imagine the piece he would have written about that large horse sitting […]
Category: Education
Outside-the-Classroom Help for Schools
I had the good fortune recently to learn of a great program that, among other things, connects older adults with younger students who have educational and other needs. It’s been in existence for a while, so maybe it’s only been me that wasn’t as aware of it as I should have been. Sometimes I get […]
Short Division and Student Understanding
Return with me briefly to my fourth grade school year (and bring your own dinosaur jokes with you). We’re headed to Mrs. Dice’s classroom at the end of the hall, where there’s a sharp right turn (both physical and metaphorical) into the 5th and 6th grade classrooms down that wing. As we sneak into the […]
Teachers’ Shots & Student Understanding
Two topics have been pulling at me recently. Here’s a quick look at both: Back to School. And Teachers. Again. Back-to-school talk is growing, and it seems almost everyone is on board. Parents, for the most part, are anxious (and of course, one empathizes with many of the reasons). Students themselves seem excited – also […]
Can Mathematicians Speak English? :-)
. . . mathematicians had to be eliminated from the study because they tended to write in formulae rather than English.
When Instant History Invades the Classroom
JFK Many of us were alive in November 1963 when JFK was assassinated, and we will always remember where we were. Many of us were also in school. I was in debate class, and we sat in stunned silence listening to the news reports from Parkland Hospital until his death became official. I’m fuzzy on […]
Top 3 Educational Resolutions for 2023
It’s resolution-making time, of course. Why not consider adding the cause of education to your list of things to help improve this year? There is still time to include your Top 3 Educational Resolutions for this year! The good news is there are many opportunities, and this will be easy, because YOU are going to […]
Dropping Out, Dropping In, and Learning
As much energy as we spend worrying about drop-outs (and I’m NOT saying that’s bad!), I’ve often wondered if it wouldn’t be wise to spend as much or more energy devising a way to make it easier to ‘drop back in’ to the appropriate place in the community educational system (GE programs, adult high schools, etc.) when a young adult sees the need, wants the opportunity, and has discovered the ever-important motivation?
Teaching Fish, Reading Foxtrot, and Making Sense
“if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” We visited that quote earlier this Fall. We used it to discuss the extremely difficult problem of maximizing effective learning for all students of all learning styles and different needs. There are so many […]
The Three R’s, the Three A’s, and the Three C’s
There’s nothing like a good mnemonic to help remember an important fact, set of instructions, or other useful associations. How many of us can still recite the colors of the rainbow thanks to our classroom chum ROY G BIV? So, it’s not unusual that ‘The Three R’s’ (Reading, [w]Riting, and ‘Rithmetic) mnemonic has been a […]
