Thursday, September 21, 2017

Misstra Knowitall's Greatest Educational Hits

I love to teach. Here's a few thoughts on the subject.

Revision and Innocence: The Life of Aaron Rushing

I wrote a piece for Gawker about a brilliant student I lost too soon. He inspires me every day to think about innocence and joy in my class.



Awe is about witnessing, not dissecting. Awe is not about grading, but appreciating. Awe is essential to good teaching.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Welcome to my winter break with a stack of essays. 


We Built It, Now We Live In It

2008 was my first year of high school teaching and my first year of having a Black President. Listening to my students helped me understand the significance of both. 






Beloved Community: 

King's dream was beloved community. That's the dream I have for my own classroom. 





Elbows: A Meditation :

Getting bruises is a part of the game, on the court and in the classroom. .








Standardized Teaching: 

Can we use data to inform, rather than enslave? 






Teaching Writing and Blowing the Whistle: 

In a test-heavy environment, sometimes the learning that can be easily assessed is the learning that gets emphasized the most. Writing should promote deeper thinking. If it's not, it should be rethought. 






Misstra Knowitall's Philosophy of Technology Education:

How do we teach our kids to use tech without it using them? 




Real Talk:

A student at my school is killed. I had to skim this one, but you might want to read it. Still hard to think about.







Life After Death at ACT Charter school: 

What is it like to live through the slow death of a school? Terrible. What is it like when said school is resurrected? Terribly bizarre.