Dear colleague, Well, I’m not sure about you, but this ol’ fella is sure grateful for the beginning of a holiday break here in my little part of the world. I won’t lie: this semester has challenged me! And for me, it’s not just been a perplexing semester in the classroom — it’s been that […]
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Efficacy and the Brain 101 – David Reese Guest Post
Dear colleagues: David Reese, the author of this *super rare* guest post on the DSJ blog, is a long-time correspondent, colleague, and friend. And he’d be your friend, too, if you met him. Loving, kind, smart, passionate — DTR is all of the things. And so today, I want to let him share with you […]
The Kind of Weird You Want to Be
In the late 1990s, one of renowned English teacher Jim Burke’s students basically called him weird. This is what they said: It’s so weird. Mr. Burke talks about reading and all this stuff like it actually matters.” This specific kind of weird, I’ll argue, is exactly what we need 1,000,000% more of in American education. […]
Observe Average Teachers, Too
The other day, I came across some advice* from writer Alan Moore in which he argues that writers ought to read not only great books but also terrible ones. Here’s what he said: As a prospective writer, I would urge you to not only read good books. Read terrible books as well, because they can […]
Unpacking a Student Letter
Several years ago, I received a letter from a student whom we’ll call Finn. It was one of those treats we get as teachers — an earnest note of appreciation. All that I would like to do in today’s article is unpack how the note describes changes in Finn’s Five Key Beliefs. I’ll share the […]