Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Grades are in, and out of my four classes, only one student is complaining about the course grade. A student who didn't turn most of the assignments in by the due dates. A student who waited until finals week to work on two major papers and the semester-long project. A student who inundated me with emails about how rough her semester has been. When I refused to answer a list of questions she sent last week about concepts that were covered during the semester, she became very upset with me and told me I'm out of touch with the younger generations, I don't listen, and I am the cause of all her stress. I do feel for this student. From what she wrote and the fact that she sent email after email several times during the week, I'm pretty sure she's dealing with mental illness. My hope is she gets help. I sent her series of emails to my boss to clue him into what she said and how she said it. I also encouraged the student to contact my boss to set up a meeting where the ...

My year of embracing opportunity continues! Today I said yes to the Museum of Science and Industry, an early dinner at a hole-in-the-wall near the University of Chicago (the food was great), a trip to a 57th Street Books, and a jaunt through a bit of Chinatown. Just when I didn't think the day could get any better, I scratched off the last number on a $3 ticket I bought when I paid for a lucky cat I found for Funny Delightful Son. The image of a money bag appeared, and underneath it was $100. The. Last. Scratch. I very seldom buy lotto tickets, and each time I do I never win anything. Hence the not buying tickets. This win was that cherry on top of the whipped cream of a wonderful day, one that I'll savor for a long time. At the museum, the first exhibit we visited was the U-505 submarine. We walked through and were given a close-up of what life was like on the sub. At one point, our tour leader played a tape of what it would have been like to be on the sub and hear d...

I'm into a fascinating read-- Mind, Brain, and Education --and I have all these ideas swirling around in my head for what I can do in the classroom to more fully engage the students in the concepts. The author of the chapter I just finished suggests helping students understand how their brains work when it comes to learning, so they realize they truly do have control over how well they learn something. For many years now, I've been trying to get through to students that they are the ones in control, but that's all I ever said. Now I have solid information by credible neuroscientists to back up what I'm saying. It's like I've found the lost piece of the puzzle, and I can't wait to put it into its spot. For instance, did you know there's a part of the brain that's called the reticular activating system (RAS) that acts as a sort of gate-keeper, and when input registers, if that input creates stress or fear, the input goes to the lower brain, the fligh...

In March my middle child experienced a situation at the school he was then attending, which resulted in him being disciplined. He wasn't allowed to participate with the track team, and he was given a written disciplinary notice that went into his file. The situation happened during a field trip, and after much discussion between the parents of some students involved as well as some of the teachers involved, I was convinced the teachers were more at fault than any of the students. It seemed the teachers were not supervising the rather large group of students carefully, which resulted in some of the students behaving badly. My son, though he did not actually participate in the bad behavior, was deemed guilty by association. Needless to say, I was furious with how the teachers as well as the administration of the school handled the discipline. This was the beginning of the end for my son attending this school. The end of his attending this particular school came after two teachers inv...