Category: Blog

  • Can We Escape the Matrix?

    Many people are talking about what’s right and wrong with education; Luba Vangelova’s Steve Hargadon: Escaping the Education Matrix is a thought provoking position. Hargadon’s idea that we are in an “education matrix” of which many of us aren’t aware clarified my confusion over why people aren’t rebelling against this new wave of mandates. Why are…

  • Why are children crying about school?

    If you have a child who enjoys school, count your blessings. I don’t. I have a child who cries almost every night. He cries while we are working on his homework; it is too hard and too much for him. He cries before bedtime; he doesn’t want to go to school because he feels unable…

  • New York Principals’ Letter of Concern

    One year ago today, over 1500 New York State principals signed a letter that outlined their concerns over the new legislation for the evaluations of teachers and principals. Their three main concerns: Educational research and researchers strongly caution against teacher evaluation approaches like New York State’s APPR Legislation. Students will be adversely affected by New…

  • My MRI by Ian Hawkins

    With a little help from Mom. I have an MRI today. I’m going to take you through my MRI. Last night I was upset about getting another MRI. I asked my mom if other kids have to get MRIs all the time like me. She said no. At least I only have to go once…

  • Animal Farm Lessons

    I love teaching Orwell’s Animal Farm to my high-school freshmen. It is an incredible allegory that illustrates Karl Marx’s well-meaning Communism, how it prompted the people to overthrow the autocracy of Czar Nicholas II, and ultimately how Joseph Stalin used those very principles against the people who thought they were fighting for their equality. The…

  • Do you know who you were created to be?

    With the dramatic changes being made to education, I may not be allowed to have these random lessons or life talks with my students anymore; they don’t fit in with any core curriculum standards. They are important nonetheless. If I can’t speak to their hearts while educating their minds, I feel like I will only…

  • Blessing 23: Pain, the Great Teacher

    God grant me the serenity  to accept the things I cannot change;  courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. It’s not surprising that the serenity prayer is used in conjunction with addiction healing. Addictions usually come from people trying to escape pain; however, addictions only keep people in painful…

  • Going for a run…

    For most of my life, I’ve despised running. So no one is more surprised by my recent attraction to my treadmill than I am. I created my own interval training, running for 3 minutes and then walking for 2 minutes. When I’m feeling particularly strong, I add an incline to my run. While on vacation,…

  • Massachusetts Speed Trap

    When I’m wrong, no matter how hard it is, I admit it. If I deserve a consequence, I accept it. I have been known to be stubborn in some situations, but I eventually fall on the side of truth and justice, even if I didn’t start out that way. After a few weeks of reflection,…

  • Land of the Free

    Five years ago today, my daughter Nicole was making her way back to Uganda from a London/Macedonia trip with her sister Carol Linn. Carol Linn was on her way home, but Nicole was stuck in Dubai. When she called me in the middle of the night five years ago, I had never heard of Dubai.…