There is a lot we don’t know about autism. I’ve been in classrooms with autistic kids many times and an as clueless as anyone. But every once in a while there’s a breakthrough story that gives us hope. One such story is Life, Animated, a documentary movie about Ron Suskind and his son Owen. At
I’m going to make this one simple. If you want to know what is wrong with our education system, I would recommend Podcast #562, “The Problem We All Live With” which originally aired July 31, 2015 on the National Public Radio program This American Life (https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with). “Right now, all sorts of people are trying to
When I teach, I think I learn as much from my students as they do from me. Remember how maps of the Earth looked so distorted when you were in school? There was just no good way to portray a three-dimensional globe on a two-dimensional sheet of paper. Not that we haven’t tried. Wikipedia has
The idea of free college surfaced during the recent election. Is it a good idea? It’s generally agreed that college graduates make more money over a lifetime, along with other advantages. (I Googled “benefits of a college education” and got 373,000 hits.) But college isn’t for everybody and such programs are very expensive. So, on
I’m sure that you’ve been reading about how many people owe debt from their college educations, but here is a quick review. According to the Lendedu website, more than 43.3 million people owe over $1.35 trillion in student debt. That averages out to $28,400 per borrower, $16,033 per graduate, and $57, 600 per graduate student
Today, while working as a substitute teacher at the local high school, I had a chance to sit in on a motivational speaker. It was all oral, so I have to rely on my memory for the details, but this man told a story that really made an impression on me. He is a high
This was Spirit Week at the local high school. I had a substitute teaching job on Friday, and I got the full impact up close. Why this week? Friday night was a football game with a neighboring suburb, their arch rivals. Over the years, this rivalry has evolved into a higher purpose — it includes
When schools have budget shortfalls, one of the first programs to be cut is art. Granted, art is not as critical as reading at grade level, but it still is important. How important? A struggling school in a tough neighborhood of Bridgeport, Connecticut credits music, dance and painting for a significant academic improvement. Not that
I just saw a Facebook post about how a police officer’s life was saved by his canine partner. http://tribunist.com/police/officer-ambushed-by-3-armed-men-he-pressed-the-button-to-release-his-k9-all-hell-broke-loose/?utm_source=SR This story gave me a classroom flashback. Several years ago, I had a morning job substituting at a local high school. Just before I left, I was asked if I could cover for a social studies
This week wrapped up my eleventh year as a substitute teacher. I’ve slowed down the last three; in fact I officially retired in 2013 and have just worked a day or two a week during that period. But it’s still a lot of fun (most of the time) and I have another year on my
