philosophy
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The Last Test and Proof
If I were to ask, What should be at the center of our teaching and our student’s learning, what would you respond? Of the many tasks that we as educators take up, what, in your view, is the most important task of all? What is our greatest hope for the young people we teach? In Continue reading
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What Do Students Need to Learn About Learning?
If I could change one thing about the education system, particularly the pre-university and professional college system in which I work, it would be this: Students would learn a lot more about learning. I have a fantasy in which I go back to school to do a doctorate in educational psychology, and then I overhaul Continue reading
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Summer Book Club Week 2: The Chairs are Where The People Go
Guidelines for the Summer Book Club: if you’ve read this book, what did you think? If not, what are you reading this week? Please comment, or post on your own blog and link in the comments below. Sheila Heti’s How Should a Person Be? was one of my Top 10 Books of 2012. I described Continue reading
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Corporatizing Education: A Justification
So let me just put this out there. Yesterday I attended a talk by the renowned/infamous literary theorist Stanley Fish. Fish’s talk was entitled “What are the Humanities Worth?” He began exploring this question by referencing Louis Menand’s article “Live and Learn: Why We Have College.” Menand poses a similar question, often asked by students: Continue reading
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Education and Growing: Reprise
Foreword: It’s been a rough week. Things at work are going fine, but life outside of work – especially life as a new homeowner – has been, shall we say, challenging. Full of minor and major inconveniences. Full of questions about whether buying a house, buying THIS house, was such a good idea. My husband Continue reading
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Arrows into Blossoms: Reprise
My meditation practice has fallen to the wayside these days. It would be wise for me to return to it. In November 2009, I was tired of a lot of things, and some Buddhist reflections were helpful. In particular, I spent time thinking about the writings of Pema Chodron, a tattoo of the Buddha under Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 6: Meditate
This is the seventh post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. I have a confession to make. I’m a bad meditator. Meditation is incredibly boring. Everything in me resists doing it, and I can avoid it for months. If Continue reading
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I Like Teaching You
Today is the first day of the new semester. I’m not exactly pumped. I’ve been working all weekend to find a motivator, or an inspiration, or a visualization to turn to when I feel it’s all too much. What’s my objective for the next fifteen weeks? What mantra will I repeat to myself on the Continue reading
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Top 10 Posts of 2011
It’s that time of year again. (Actually, it’s a little past that time of year – it was that time of year, oh, two weeks ago, when it was still last year.) Nevertheless: a roundup! Here are the posts from Classroom as Microcosm that received the most hits this year. The reasons for their popularity Continue reading
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Education From the Ground Up
I have once again received a very interesting query from a reader. The blog will be on hiatus until January 9, so you’ll have lots of time to think about it and respond! Jan Simpson would like to know: if you had to design an education system from scratch, how would you do it? Here, Continue reading
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 