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I made the mistake this evening of asking Joel if he was making dirt. ''I'm making dust,'' he tells me. ''Dirt is made from things that die and from poop and from rocks when they die.'' I was struck by the efortlessness of dirt and flowers and orange trees. The blossoms are exploding like crazy with a perfume heavier than old ...

Christy and I visited Sonic the other night (the fastfood joint and not the hedgehog) and I ordered a forty four ounce of soda.  I thought it would be soda, but instead it was a large bucket of ice with just enough soda in between the cracks.  There sips and it was done. I quickly began a rant.  First it was, ''Can't they see the logic? ...

As the kids work on their budgets, a boy calls me over, ''Mr. Spencer, cell can mean a prison cell and it can mean a cell on a spreadsheet and it can mean a cell phone, right?'' ''Right.'' ''So, is that a homonym or a homophone? I think it's a homophone and she says it's a homonym.'' ''It's a homonym.  Homophones are words that ...

Teaching is one of the few professions left without an Orwellian euphemism.  We aren't Cognitive Development Specialists or Core Curricular Instructional Achievement Specialists.  Alan, a guy I know in that cyber-vapor kind of way tells me that some people have adopted ''co-learner,'' as a phrase and I'm hoping the phrase dies quickly and is ...

Someone recently asked me about a section in my book Teaching Unmasked where I argue that less instruction is sometimes better.  I mentioned that the goal should be to move from differentiation to empowerment.  Today's lesson demonstrates a little bit of what I mean. My First Year: Differentiating I began by asking groups to defend why ...

Joel says, ''I want my compass to talk.'' ''It's impossible.'' ''But you said it tells you where to go, daddy.'' ''What I meant is that you can read it.'' ''But I need it to talk to me in case I'm lost in the forest.'' ''Joel, if you're ever in the forest, you know who will be with you?'' Micah, from across the hall, ''God!'' ''That ...

Order on Amazon.com: $4.99  My new book Teaching Unmasked is available in the following formats right now: As a free eBook (you can download the PDF file) On Kindle for $1.00 In Print for $4.99 On a blog (within the next few days) As a free audio book (I'm half-way through this part) Here's the Deal I am selling it at-cost on Kindle ...

My left-wing progressive friends feel disenchanted with Obama.  The slogans of hope and change have run dry and they're confused by a president who has failed to pass health care reform, continues to pursue war and has bailed-out large corporations rather than helping individuals.  Add NCLB 2.0 and they have no faith in their leader.  In their ...

by Bruce W. (aka Bat Dude) Historians debate the emergence of superheroes as a dominant force for social justice.  Some argue that the original superheroes were the saints (think folks on candles and not football players). The capes were originally monastic robes and the secrecy began with the belief that one should do good deeds in secret. ...

I'm currently on Chapter Four of Daniel Pink's book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. I've been participating in a book study group with the Nerdfighteria Misfits.  Here are my thoughts thus far: Somewhere in my freshmen year of college, I read an essay from C.S. Lewis' God in the Dock.  In this speech to factory workers, he ...