Category Archives: Students

I Get to Go to School

As I was feeling exhausted, frustrated, and futile the other day, I asked myself why I go to work.  In such desperate moments I can easily find myself answering first with many of the things I don’t go there for.  … Continue reading

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Brother Love and Lovely Dove

There’s a kid in my school who inspires me.  Work doesn’t always come easy for him, but he doesn’t stop trying.  He’s not very organized, but he doesn’t seem to care.  Life moves at a little slower pace; a pace … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Instructional Leader and the Brain

I’ve been poking in and out of this book for a few months now, interrupted by other reading.  The growing fields of cognitive and neuroscience have fascinated me, but the intersection of this research with practical application has been scattered … Continue reading

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Technology Amuck

A young lady was recently telling me her woes about a boy she had a crush on.  The woe was this: he hadn’t “liked” a picture she posted of them earlier that day.  I asked her if his opinion was … Continue reading

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Can’t Be Graded

As the first day of school approached this year, I couldn’t help but think of the last day back in June.  My daughter’s science teacher, Mr. Fink, called me at home at 9:30 that night.  When summer was supposed to … Continue reading

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Give Them Chores

Not long I was talking with a friend about raising kids, carpooling everywhere, working, fixing meals, and all the things that fill our hours between wake and sleep.  As I explained the chores list on our refrigerator that our children … Continue reading

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Book Review: Dispositions

Art Costa is one of the originators of the Cognitive Coaching practices that I’ve trained in for helping people move their thinking, so it was clear that when he put out a book all about Dispositions, I was dying to … Continue reading

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#MIpubED Community Concerns

As March 2015 winds to a close, the #MIpubED Twitter chats have uncovered more questions than answers…such is learning.  In just a month we have discussed standards, high-stakes tests, and the creation of an online community where educators and their … Continue reading

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An Education Allegory

The fourth-grade safety patrol tells his side of the story like this:  “I told this second-grade girl that she needed to stay off the snow on the sidewalk because that’s the rule.  Then she asked me where she was supposed … Continue reading

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This Hurts Me More Than You

I didn’t believe my Mom when she said these words to me right before the last spanking I received as a child.  Spanks didn’t come often, probably because I was a remarkably agreeable kid, but my memory of the events … Continue reading

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