Are you familiar with DEVOLSON? It’s a teacher-created acronym describing what is often a season of disillusionment for teachers. The acronym stands for Dark, Evil Vortex of Late September, October, and November. It’s real. I’ve lived it. It’s when the fresh start of a new school year, along with the personal goals you’ve set for…
education
You’ve Got to Be Kidding!
I recently read an article in support of the notion that if students do not want to learn, it is impossible to make them learn. Okay, here’s the honest truth: I wanted to shake this author until his teeth rattled loose and spilled out onto the floor. I was in such disbelief that I read…
Powerful Words
At this very moment, I feel inspired and humbled, privileged and thankful, sorrowful and hopeful. And it’s all because of the words of Eunice Akoth, the sixth grader pictured here. This 12-year-old captivated the audience at the recent Women in the World Summit with her words, a response to her life growing up in Kibera,…
Bedrock, Biomes, Creepers, and Teachers?
My youngest son is in second grade. There are a lot of things we could talk about, but the subject most often on his mind is the game Minecraft—what he’s building, what he has explored, and how he’s gone about doing it. His older brothers are into Minecraft as well and have been at it…
How Fast Is the Future Arriving?
Mix tapes. They were the best. I used to spend hours and hours putting together what I consider to be some of the world’s best music mixes ever. Ever. Without dispute. I was to the mix tape what a modern deejay like Deadmau5 is to electronic dance music. The advent of the recordable CD (or…
What, Me Worry?
I may be a bit old fashioned when it comes to my philosophy on education. And while the jury is still out, I do remain uncomfortably curious about what a Common Core future means to young learners. My initial reaction sees a narrowing of the curriculum, and I feel like lodging complaints like an old…
What Traits Must a Teacher Have?
Without a doubt, the place where I failed most spectacularly as a teacher was at the corner of Organization Street and Process Avenue. I’m sure there were days when my students didn’t know what to expect from me; however, the work we did was consistent and the way in which we approached it rarely veered…
What Would a Teacher Do?
Sometimes I can go on a tear and have something that I want to write about here at the Exchange just about every single day. Then we have a stretch like this recent one, where I go missing for a week and a half. What’s brought me back is another number. The number is 15,800,000,000….
857 Is 857 Too Many
One topic that elementary school teachers don’t have to contend with is dropouts. Either a child is getting to school or she isn’t. By and large, the same goes for middle school. Elementary and middle school students are not legally allowed to make their own decisions about their schooling. Parents and guardians do that. I…
Seven Faces Lighting Up in the Dark
Perhaps this is the most wonderful thing about teaching: seeing the wonder and amazement on a child’s face as she learns something new. It’s the eyes brightening and a brow rising as a young girl makes the connection between something she has read in a book and now experienced in another lesson, in a hands-on…