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documenting Δ after the Delta
I just came across this year’s baccalaureate address from my Alma Mater. The focus of the address was on the importance of “falling into the future.” To elucidate this point, the speaker used an example from sports.
In almost any sport there is an occasion to fall down. Even swimmers will fall off the starting blocks from time to time. It happens. If you’ve ever spent any time playing a sport, you know that there are moments where you’re best off letting it go. In a split-second, you acknowledge that no matter what you do, you are going to fall. So you make the decision and down you go.
Of course, you could “decide” not to fall, to hold on tight, but you’d fall anyways. So, the decision isn’t so much to fall, but to allow yourself to fall acknowledging that it is in fact inevitable. The baccalaureate address went on to give the graduating…
I teach in a co-teaching environment. Perhaps the best part of this setup, is that I get to be constantly surprised not only by the ruminations of my students but also by the random tidbits presented by my colleagues. I don’t remember the context for this particular tidbit, but a few weeks ago we were in…
read more »Frustrating and Disappointing. Those are the two emotions that have defined the time since I told my placement school that I wouldn’t be returning next year. It’s been nearly two and a half months since I turned in my commitment letter with the box checked that I did not want them to prepare a contract…
read more »I’d tell you how long it’s been since my last attempt to update this blog, but it’s not really the point. Or I’m too lazy to look it up. Two years ago, I started this space as a place for those who’re close to me to keep track of what I was up to while…
read more »It only took two days for me to go from sky-high to smashing back into the everyday realities of teaching. Being “sky-high” is the logical consequence of taking a large group of educators who are passionate about education reform, removing them from the classroom, putting them together at a conference focused on reform, and letting…
read more »As we hit the beginning of the testing season, a focus on the “the wall” seems appropriate. Of course, the Pink Floyd reference seems apropos as we try to use standardized testing as the primary mode of assessing growth. Nevertheless, with a head cold going strong, and the grind of teaching taking its toll, it…
read more »Next week End of Course testing begins. You might be thinking to yourself, “EOC testing in the first full week of March. You’ve only taught two-thirds of the year.” I think that to myself sometimes too. Nevertheless, here it comes and with it a lot of time out of the classroom. Let’s look at the…
read more »In my last post, I touched on the differences between the institutions I’ve been a part of. That stemmed out of some of the frustration I feel with the implementation of change in my district. So, I want to tackle, more for my own good than for yours, the relative merits of a top-down and…
read more »At one institution we plan and hold meetings endlessly. We wait so long, and plan so purposefully, that we are constantly years behind the cutting edge. At another we move so quickly and have so many cutting edge initiatives to implement that we are not giving any of them the attention that they deserve. Understandably,…
read more »On one hand, the snow day on Friday led to a major existential crisis for me. On the other hand, it apparently doesn’t matter whether I can teach because in 20-30 years computers will be able to do it for me. The following article is long, but worth it: The Singularity is Coming
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