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Four and Out: Sarah Fine Sheds Light on the Grinding Nature of Teaching- the work and and social baggage
Continuing catching up on posts and comments jotted down during a busy August- two trips and school starting. Oxford Mississippi kids returned to school- full time, on August 6th. Sarah Fine’s, “Schools Need Teachers Like Me. I just Can’t Stay” gives a heartfelt accounting of why, after four years of teaching in “Room 108 of [...]
Read MoreClassic Novels, Old and New
Editor’s note: We’re thrilled to feature this guest post by Lydia Anderson from Summit Educational Group. Summit provides high-quality, affordable standardized test preparation from the SSAT to SAT. Most high school students complete a reading list of books written long before they were born. While these remain classics for a reason, they can often feel [...]
Read MoreFresh Air Fund Benefactors Match Donations Through June 30th
Generous Fresh Air Fund benefactors will match your Fresh Air Fund contributions dollar-for-dollar through June 30th. Your donation- no matter the size- doubles. Your $10 donation becomes $20; a $50 donation becomes $100. We understand that everyone’s monies and budgets are tight and that giving may not be part of your current equation. Two things: [...]
Read MoreWebcam Keeps Hospitalized Students Connected
I often look at the touted promises of the ‘next’ technology with a jaundiced eye. This is technology put to great, direct, effective use. The Washington, DC area chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has provided Georgetown University Hospital’s pediatric oncology program with six laptops and webcams that hospitalized students use to follow lessons [...]
Read MoreA Completely Fun and Indulgent Note From Our Office
My wife, Virginia Cornelius, has been honored as the Mississippi teaching winner of 10th Annual 2007-08 Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement. She teaches Calculus, pre-calculus, and algebra at Lafayette County High School here in Oxford, MS. Working through her nomination she received some great letters from her past students. She’s most appreciative of her students [...]
Read MoreFresh Air Fund Camp Counselor Opportunities
Here’s a plug outside our usual area of expertise and attention. We usually don’t do this kind of piece, but we’re great fans of The Fresh Air Fund. Year in and year out they provide terrific summer opportunities to kids in need of a break from the city. The long and short- The Fresh Air [...]
Read MoreHow A High School Class Reads Toni Morrison and Barak Obama
Having taught Toni Morrison’s Beloved a few times, I found this new take on bringing it to classroom very thoughtful, but in the end, reflective of the challenges of bringing any great work to students. Ian Shapira writes about teaching Tony Morrison to an AP class at Cardozo High School in DC in an article [...]
Read MoreA Student Grows Wise
For those unfamiliar with the National Public Radio series “This I Believe,” it’s a series of listener authored essays expounding on the things and ideas that the authors hold dear- perspectives and thoughts that inform the authors thinking and action. This week’s essay comes from a high school student who’s life I have not known, [...]
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