I would first like to offer you a lively, robust classroom conversation about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and then I’d like to explain why the conversation is nonetheless rather pointless, and what the conversation needs in order to be productive. Teacher: So, do you think Frankenstein’s monster has a soul? Is he a real human being? …
A Lively But Pointless Conversation About LiteratureRead More »
If a mother asks her son what the best part of his school day was and he responds, “Lunch,” she is apt to be a little frustrated. She had hoped her son would tell her about an amazing breakthrough he made in Geometry, or a rousing conversation in British Literature—this is all the more true …
When Your Son Says Lunch Was The Best Part Of School TodayRead More »
I had a lot of LEGO as a child, as did my friends, and we all knew there were two kinds of blocks: “regulars” and “specials.” Regulars were the kind of blocks you used to build a wall, a floor, a hull, a wing, a fuselage, or a roof. Most were solid, symmetrical, and they …
Specials and Regulars: What LEGO Taught Me About the Classroom (And Life In General)Read More »
I saw it. I wasn’t excited, but I was intrigued. Barbie was written by Greta Gerwig and her husband Noah Baumbach, whom I think one of the more interesting writers working today. Baumbach’s Marriage Story put the fear of God in me like very few movies have. Gerwig’s Frances Ha and Lady Bird both lampooned …
There are few questions apt to get under the classical teacher’s skin quite like, “Will this be on the test?” It’s not a brazenly disrespectful question, but a subtle way of saying, “I don’t innately care about what you’re saying. Are you going to force me to care about this? If you are, fine. If …
“How much lecture is necessary?” is a divisive question because there’s really no standard definition of “lecture” among classical educators. Some teachers think a lecture is an uninterrupted 45-minute talk on why Jane Austen didn’t like the city of Bath, which sounds a bit dull and unlikely to incline students to virtue—and the idea that …
I offer here a series of questions for teachers preparing to teach Pride & Prejudice next year. What problems do teachers often run into when teaching a “girly book” like Pride & Prejudice to boys? Is there anything boys must believe about this book—or believe about themselves—in order to take Pride & Prejudice seriously from …
Something They Will Not Forget was published four years ago today. Since then, hundreds of classical educators across the country have begun using classroom catechisms. There is no subject about which I get more questions than catechisms and so—given the occasion—I thought I’d answer some of the most common questions I get. Is it necessary …
Frequently Asked Questions About Classroom CatechismsRead More »
Think about all the books you taught last year and the year before. With which book do you do your best work? With which book did you do your worst work? When you think of “your worst work” as a teacher, what makes it your worst work? How do you distinguish between good work from …
A Discussion Guide For Rethinking How You Teach LiteratureRead More »
If you hang out in teaching circles for long enough, you will occasionally hear talk of the idea that educators should “teach to your top third.” In other words, the teacher should figure out what the brightest, smartest third of the class can do and then tailor lessons to them. Theoretically, the bottom two-thirds of …
