"Reading is the creative center of a writer's life." — Stephen King
January 11, 2018
Rather, Parker Palmer writes, the more important questions are: “What am I? What is my nature?” These questions are more important because they require more self-knowledge. This knowledge must include, Palmer writes, acknowledgement of our limits and our potentials. Of course, it’s much more difficult to develop … Read More
January 4, 2018
In The Underground Railroad, Michael is a slave in Georgia in the 1850s who was taught to recite, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” This is one of many powerful scenes in this novel that show how the ideal of … Read More
December 28, 2017
I’ve already written about the best books of 2017 for teachers, and so today I will focus on the other books that I’ve read this year. My “favorite” books are the ones that I am most likely to read again. Here they are:
1. Elizabeth Strout: … Read More
December 21, 2017
Richard Davidson, my favorite scientist, continues: “Instead, the brain has a property called neuroplasticity, the ability to change its structure and function in significant ways.” This has important implications for teachers like me who want to understand how people learn. It turns out that every time … Read More
December 14, 2017
Thirty years of research on classroom discussion has generated many theories on why some students participate in discussion and others do not. I’ve come to believe that while a combination of factors come into play, Fassinger’s findings are probably key. If you put her research side-by-side with … Read More
December 7, 2017
For many years, insomnia was considered to be primarily a symptom of another illness, writes Wallace Mendelson in The Science of Sleep. During his 40-plus years as a sleep researcher, Mendelson has seen many views evolve, and this is one of them. In addition to being the … Read More
November 24, 2017
The poet Mary Oliver continues: “Or, is it tender and breakable, like the wings of a moth in the beak of the owl?” With these questions, Oliver opens the poem “Some Questions You Might Ask,” which has inspired artists, videographers, and hundreds of bloggers. During … Read More
November 9, 2017
It is not poverty per se that distinguishes these students, Karen Gross writes, but it’s a childhood burdened by “hunger, exposure to or experience with drugs, alcohol, abandonment, frequent moves, abuse, self-harm or harm of others.” Do we know which of our students have had these experiences? … Read More
November 2, 2017
Cathy Davidson, author of The New Education, describes the twenty-fifth birthday parties that many of her college students throw “to commemorate their collective indecision and existential sense of uselessness.” They have degrees, credentials, and honors, but few job prospects. Davidson argues that these students have been … Read More
October 26, 2017
If British novelist Jane Austen – now dead for 200 years – could see the picture of her that is in cash registers and wallets in England on the newly-issued ten pound note, she would probably laugh. The bankers selected a popular painting of Austen, which … Read More
October 19, 2017
Was this professor inept? Were his students slackers? Both are unlikely: Carl Wieman, the professor, is a Nobel Laureate, and he teaches at Sanford. Perhaps, as Norman Eng points out, those of us who stand in the front of the classroom are more focused on teaching … Read More
October 12, 2017
How does Karl Ove Knausgaard’s collection of letters for his unborn daughter compare to Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me? All three are beautiful explorations of ideas; all are meant to guide, not to provide solutions. What … Read More
October 5, 2017
Amor Towles, author of A Gentleman in Moscow, continues: “Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli.” If you, like me, would like a break from the disasters and tragedies surrounding us, consider reading this wonderful novel about … Read More
