Philosophical Meanderings

Learning to Think and Question (By Student Christian Isaac)

Posted by dloitz ⋅ December 4, 2012 ⋅ 7 Comments

The way we chastise or praise students at schools today is two laughs beyond hysterical. We’ve been raised to think that the most intelligent students are the ones who turn in their homework on time and fill in all the blanks on their notes. Society has gone so far, and has been so emaciated by … Continue reading »

Grades Limit My Learning

Posted by Justin Strudler ⋅ November 27, 2012 ⋅ 27 Comments

Originally posted as a guest post. Justin is a member of the Cooperative Catalyst We all stress ourselves out to memorize the formulas. We all have had that cram night before the final. We all BS homework at the last second so as not to “get a zero”. We all use Spark Notes. We all … Continue reading »

Drowning as an Educator or Finding the Surface

Posted by educatedtodeath ⋅ November 26, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

Originally and reluctantly posted at educatedtodeath.com Over the past few weeks I’ve struggled with my problem with top down models of education. I attempted to allow the thought “this is for the greater good” into my mind. I tried to hold it in my mind and make it fit. It only made me sick the … Continue reading »

#ncte12: when they came for us, they came with standards

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ November 17, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

There’s really no better way to silence us teachers (apart from the crippling, self-imposed professional norm of not admitting to our students and parents that have an opinion on anything) than to give us thousands of standards. When a teacher is busy delivering content and designing lessons to appease political appointees, there is precious little … Continue reading »

#mozfest: Open schools for open societies

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ November 11, 2012 ⋅ 16 Comments

#mozfest began a conversation about schooling that I hope continues over the course of the next year. I hope that in our care and commitment to raising a generation of webmakers who write the world, we increase kids’ access to writable experiences inside school, as well as outside school. While it’s mostly true that to … Continue reading »

Why I don’t “just find another job”

Posted by educatedtodeath ⋅ November 7, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

Originally posted at educatedtodeath.com I have a bit of venom toward the system that employs me. It has been suggested that “if [I] don’t like it, then leave.” That suggestion discounts my reasons for staying, and indicates that I’m concerned namely with/for my own well-being. I can see how an outsider might see it that … Continue reading »

The fun we have

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ November 2, 2012 ⋅ 10 Comments

Our quest to measure how frequently a skateboard wheel spins in a given amount of time continues. Working off of Twitter feedback (leave your feedback here) from Andrew Carle and Katie Mae, we built reed switches – circuits that use magnets to pull contacts together to complete themselves. We passed the reed switches through our … Continue reading »

The Third Way

Posted by iteach4change ⋅ October 25, 2012 ⋅ 6 Comments

“The Third Way” is a phrase sometimes used to describe a new, third alternative after two somewhat opposite alternatives are explored and found wanting or inadequate. For example, the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, founded a way of life, an eightfold path, that was a “third way” after he rejected the excesses of indulgence on the … Continue reading »

I’m almost too tired to voice my dissent.

Posted by educatedtodeath ⋅ October 22, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

Originally posted at educatedtodeath.com I’ve been quieter this year, more subdued. I’ve felt guilty. Today, I failed to attend a meeting that could have served as an opportunity to work for the better, or fight the worse. I can barely find time to write. My posts are fewer, and my involvement in social media is … Continue reading »

Swallowing the Pill: It’s good because I was told

Posted by educatedtodeath ⋅ October 8, 2012 ⋅ 6 Comments

Originally posted at educatedtodeath.com It’s sad to see educators so committed to their prescribed “job” that the question, “Am I really doing what I should be doing?” becomes impossible to ask. Unquestioning subservience is an easy trap. It’s required to an extent. If teachers are to hold onto their jobs, they must, at least, pay … Continue reading »

#HowILearn: a Post Request from @AnseoAMuinteoir

Posted by pamelamoran ⋅ October 7, 2012 ⋅ 4 Comments

A group of educators, including me, were challenged recently by @AnseoAMuinteoir, aka Hellie Bullock of Ireland, to write a post on #HowILearn for her blog. Asking “how I learn” begins for me with a question of “what is learning?” It’s followed by a question of “why learn?” Since ground zero of memory, I feel I’ve … Continue reading »

Collaborate, but collaborate better than thy neighbor(?).

Posted by educatedtodeath ⋅ October 5, 2012 ⋅ 8 Comments

Originally posted at educatedtodeath.com We’ve had several meetings this year that have all had a similar message: “create a competitive environment in your classroom to motive your students”. We are told that they respond well to competition. They should always strive to do better than their neighbor. We are also expected to tell them that … Continue reading »

The pursuit, not the telling

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ October 4, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

We had already put up the computers; we stood around waiting for the tornado drill. I spun two wheels, one wheel on each of the skateboards parked on the desk by the door. The blue wheel on the first deck easily outlasted the white wheel on the other. You could hear the difference. The white … Continue reading »

Learned Humanity

Posted by Jason Flom ⋅ October 4, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

While in DC a couple of weeks ago for the Bammy Awards I had the chance to tour the Holocaust Museum with a few colleagues. It was powerful, moving, and saddening. I left convinced more than ever that what we do matters, and matters mightily. Wandering the beautifully and hauntingly constructed museum, the visceral taste of … Continue reading »

Dichotomy of Co-Intentional Teaching and Our Current Education System

Posted by SngrLittle ⋅ September 29, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

Last week I attended a national conference on theatre education. It was an illuminating and frustrating experience. And this fall, I started attending graduate school in applied theatre at CUNY in New York, where I am participating in a wonderfully illuminating course, Group Theatre. Part of the ongoing dialogue and work in Group Theatre has … Continue reading »

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