philosophy
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Who Are Your Gurus?
This week has been an exercise in detachment. I’ve been grading very long and sometimes very difficult final papers, and in a moment of hair-tearing frustration, wrote the post 10 Reasons I Hate Grading Your Assignment. When it went up here and, especially, on my Open Salon blog, there was an outpouring of hilarity, with Continue reading
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will more school make us better people?
I’m concerned about President Obama’s assertion that children should spend more time in school. I absolutely disagree; I think children should spend a lot of time learning – in fact, I think they should spend all day, every day, learning, as should adults – but that “school” is only one, and not always the most Continue reading
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School vs. the Real World
Today I came across a post called “‘Meaningful’ School-to-Career” on the blog In Pursuit of Excellence. The blogger asks, Schools provide young people with a solid academic foundation to build the rest of their lives on. But schools are also supposed to prepare students for the real world….How can the real adult world they will Continue reading
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would you read this book?
I’m putting together a proposal for a memoir based on material from this blog. What do you think? Siobhan Curious Falls In Love Again: Project Description Since August 2007, I have been keeping a pseudonymous blog called “Siobhan Curious,” which details and reflects upon my classroom experiences as a CEGEP teacher. The blog has a Continue reading
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in which I do not become a Unitarian after all
(Check out Part One and Part Two of this story.) So two weeks before Christmas, I once again eschewed the Sunday sleep-in, put on my best blue sweater and black jacket, and metroed down to the Unitarian church, this time alone. My nervousness about being there without The Boyfriend Buffer was balanced by my greater Continue reading
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in which I become a Unitarian: part two
(for Part One of this continuing saga, please go here.) On a Sunday morning, The Boyfriend and I took the metro to Vendome, to attend Montreal’s only Unitarian church. We underestimated the travel time, which is unlike us, and arrived in time for the service by the skin of our teeth. We were greeted outside Continue reading
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in which I become a Unitarian: part one
I have a confession to make. I’ve been going to church. Those who know me may find this surprising. I’m not a churchy type. I don’t really own any “church clothes.” I like to sleep in whenever I can, including Sunday mornings. Before a few weeks ago, I probably hadn’t been to a church service Continue reading
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When You Are Uncool
This week, I finally got around to reading the NY Times Sunday Magazine’s yearly “College Issue,” which came out at the end of September. This year’s issue focuses on teaching, so I set it aside with the intention of reading it carefully when I could bear to think about teaching. I’m on sabbatical, so I’ve Continue reading
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what would Bertrand Russell do?
On Education has posted an essay by Bertrand Russell that jibes with some of the ideas/questions/comments in my post on discipline and the beginning of the semester. I particularly love Russell’s final paragraph: Unfortunately, it is utterly impossible for over-worked teachers to preserve an instinctive liking for children; they are bound to come to feel Continue reading
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cheating and moral development: an aside
Here’s a post that discusses some of our underlying psychological programming where cheating is concerned, and the most productive actions and attitudes societies can take to control it. 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 