WagTheDog | Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart. ~ Rumi:
Wag The Dog Week
Listen To The Music
Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are never so alive as when we concern ourselves with other people. ~ Harry Chapin Students will learn more from text that is unpretentious and emotive than complex and informational. Readings in the classroom should stimulate student feelings and stir up emotions rather than stifle student feelings and
Common Core Bait and Switch
“Selling” the Common Core State Standards to students, parents, and employers with promotional slogans such as “college and career readiness”, “critical thinking”, “constructivist learning”, “technology integration”, and “21st century skills” while cash-strapped schools provide fewer trade and vocational programs, eliminate the arts, increase class size, narrow the curriculum, and rely on test
AUG 25
Critical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking
The Common Core demands students think critically while staying connected and diving into text, yet employers desire workers who can think creatively, connect with people, and dive into their work. David Coleman has made it clear that students are expected to read like a detective while most employers expect students to read with perspective. There is a significant difference between critical thi
AUG 22
Common Cure: Growing Pains or Growing Awareness?
Media reports have focused on a recent survey indicating a sharp decline in support for the Common Core among teachers. These reports have also included a variety of explanations and theories as to why this decline has occurred. Unfortunately many of the quotes and much of the speculation comes from Common Core cheer leaders who have limited teaching experience and do not have regular contact wit
AUG 17
Equipped for the Future
The problem with the Common Core’s mission to improve “College and Career Readiness” is not that these expectations are too high, but these standards are too narrow and specialized, so they do not prepare students for the real life and diverse challenges of life, school, and employment. In April, 2014 the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported… “In October 2013, 65.9 percent of 2013 high school gr
AUG 11
He Who Controls The Language…
‘I don’t know what you mean by “glory,”‘ Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. ‘Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”‘ ‘But “glory” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument,”‘ Alice objected. ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’ ‘The questio
AUG 10
Thoughts and Feelings Do Matter
“The children coming into their second grade classroom that morning arranged their chairs in a circle for a daily ritual: Their teacher asked every child to tell the class how they felt (unless they didn’t want to share this), and why they felt that way. This simple exercise in a New Haven, CT elementary school was the first time I saw a lesson in emotional literacy. Naming emotions accurately hel
