April 2012 - Posts

The good life


28 April 12 10:58 AM
We have never worked harder and have never enjoyed work more, because, with rare exceptions, the work was significant, self-directed, constructive and therefore interesting. Helen and Scott Nearing The Good Life Grown by a student in B362. Our children Read More...
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Arne on the Arts


28 April 12 09:03 AM
The arts are an important part of a well-rounded education for all students. All of the arts – dance, music, theatre [sic] , and the visual arts – are essential to preparing our nation’s young people for a global economy fueled by innovation and creativity Read More...
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Why I teach (again and again)


22 April 12 06:58 PM
I used to think that if people seemed reasonably happy with their fantasy lives, living the good life through media fantasies ( Did you hear? Robin Gibb woke up! ), I had no business reminding them what they may have lost. No one likes an in-your-face Read More...
Postedfrom doyle | 4 Comments    

Digital divide?


15 April 12 09:05 AM
The Pew Internet & American Life Project just released "Digital differences" --another look at who uses the internet, and who does not. While there remains a digital divide for economic reasons, a good number of folks could use it but do not "because Read More...
Postedfrom doyle | 2 Comments    

Zip codes and cortisol


14 April 12 09:18 PM
Suppose you had a child who had sustained a moderate head injury in a car accident, how would you assess her her first few months back? Her memory may be wobbly, she may be prone to bouts of inattention. You'd be kind, no? You'd work with her to help Read More...
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Clamming on Good Friday


06 April 12 05:51 PM
It's Good Friday, which matters for a few of us, some for good reasons, some for less. I usually spend a few hours in the garden, but today I elected to spend them on a mudflat. This is what's left after we're done. At about the same time the Christ would Read More...
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Slaughtering science in the classroom


04 April 12 09:17 AM
It's planting time--as has been for the past few weeks. I poke a small hole in the earth, drop in a seed, push dirt over the hole, then go on to the next. It is an act of faith that each seed will erupt into a growing organism, thrusting it roots deep Read More...
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Why kids love science anyway...


01 April 12 08:29 PM
As much faith as I have in natural laws, I have much less faith in my ability to lasso them as needed in a classroom. I've had some spectacularly loud, messy failures. Kids like this. As much as the Arne's and the Eli's and the Bill's want to control Read More...
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Why we hate science, 2


01 April 12 06:54 PM
Leslie and I walked along the edge of the Atlantic this afternoon, arguing just what that meant. She believes the edge is ephemeral, abstract, and I drew a line at the highest point of the last wave. It was a pointless discussion, and done in play, but Read More...
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Approximation to adequacy: why we hate science


01 April 12 09:21 AM
The individual concepts of children, and the individual concepts of most persons who live and die in this world, are exceedingly vague, crude, and obscure. That is, they are vague, crude, and obscure in comparison with any approximation to adequacy. Francis Read More...
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