Monthly Archives: August 2015

Am I the smartest guy in the classroom? I mean, shouldn’t I be? After all, I am the one getting the paycheck. But am I the smartest guy? Many folks in education believe that the most important thing in the classroom is to have the answers. The more correct answers you have – the smarter you are – AND the one with the most answers in the classroom is clearly the smartest one in the room. But I differ! I think that “answers” are highly overrated. I mean, if you just want answers why don’t you use Google or a hundred other websites. Teaching answers only takes you so far – and often the answers of today become out-of-date tomorrow. Isn’t that the basis behind the common student complaint, “I am never going to use this.”? I think they are right. Really, what are all of those answers ever going to do to help feed your face or prepare you for your future? Read more →

As school moves to a new year and a new set of craziness and challenges, you can see the newspapers full of the opinions on public education. Some find it to be a noble profession – – working for the love of children and the future of our country – – others site public eduation as the reason that they would want to drive off the edge of a bridge. Both are true, I suppose, but on a much more simple level, I find teaching to be just a bit creepy. Stay with me. When the majority of the world heads off the to work world they are with a group of people that age along with them. Year by year, everyone gets just a bit greyed, just a bit more wrinkled, a bit closer to the faded blush of fall. Read more →