The Intersection

The news media is on fire these days regarding legislation in Mississippi and North Carolina--legislation that makes provisions for discrimination based on one's sexual orientation or gender identity. The governors of both states have signed off on this legislation ( HB1523  in Mississippi;  HB 2  in North Carolina), and the nation has responded, both within and outside these states—from   boycotts   to   college campus protests . Prior to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signing HB 2 into law, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts sent him the following text directly:  Please do not sign this awful bill...Poorly conceived and written.   There is no provision for any enforcement for race, religion, etc. It will be legal for restaurants to hang a sign saying 'no gays allowed' out front. Is this the N.C. we want? McCrory ignored this text. His decision to convene the North Carolina legislature and sign HB 2 into law this March came a...

Springtime in schools is exciting. And exhausting. As we prepare for end-of-year celebrations, performances, and rituals for closure, we must summon the same level of stamina we had when the school year began. Sometimes the light at the end of the school-year tunnel allows us to press forward until the finish. Sometimes the growth of our students inspires us to manage those final weeks of youth bouncing off the walls. Yet we also need to acknowledge, with care and honesty, that we are tired.  When I was in my first years of teaching, I always dreaded the slog between spring break and Memorial Day. Typically, we had about six to eight full weeks with no breaks. And as the sun came out and the weather got warmer, students increasingly struggled to be in the classroom. I was afraid I'd get eaten alive because I wasn't sure I had the energy to maintain my class routines with the same meticulousness as the fall or when a new semester began. And sometimes these fears became self-fu...

21st Century education has its share of buzz words: "innovation" being chief among them. From my first years of teaching (in the midst of Y2K and its anti-climactic aftermath), everyone in education was focused on the future. To innovate meant to do school differently: to throw out the factory models of education in favor of schools for different purposes--technological, thematic, globalized.  16 years into this new century, and the factory model of schooling still exists. However, much has changed as well. Numerous schools , from charter to independent to public, are blowing up the concept of traditional education in favor of more experiential and intentional learning experiences that meet the needs of today's students. Some schools are responding to advanced uses of technology, like Michigan's Clintondale High School , a public high school in the Detroit area whose core focus is the flipped classroom. Other schools are innovating by unplugging, such as Th...

A major focus in schools these days is innovation: making, designing, creating. In the latest iteration of Bloom's Taxonomy, "creating" is considered a higher-order skill. When students are able to take what they have learned and make something new based on their knowledge, then they're demonstrating creativity. However, whenever I ask students to do something "creative," most scoff back with: "I'm not artistic/creative," or "I don't work that way," or "but I can't do that." And who can blame these students? When we show students images of Renaissance art or the latest version of the Tesla, and we tell them, "This could be you someday," we put a high premium on creativity. These works become unattainable, and therefore, when students are asked to be creative, they already have limited themselves in their own boxes of self doubt. The good people at Stanford's d.school and the consultants ...

I recently began reading the Acknowledgements sections at the end of novels. I used to finish a book, close it upon completing the final chapter, and file it away on the bookshelf. Perhaps I am arriving late in the game of reading Acknowledgements; perhaps most of you have always read acknowledgments and are wondering why it took me so long to get there (no worries, feel free to judge). Regardless, I'm glad I finally took the time to do so. So many people help with the creation of a book, whether fiction, nonfiction, or textbooks. And I find myself inspired by the tributes authors compose to the unseen eyes and unheard voices who helped these authors generate their work. I have even found myself crying on occasion because of how much love and tenderness writers extend to their editors, friends, partners, children, and even pets. Sometimes authors acknowledge one or two people, and other times the lists are exhaustive. It's powerful stuff. In the absence of writing a ...

I recently presented a workshop in Los Angeles entitled, “The Early Years of Teaching.” Despite its title, this workshop invited teachers from all experience levels to come together, learn about tips for classroom management and lesson design, analyze a lesson through the student experience, and consult with one another about some of their conundrums at this stage in the school year (or in their careers). The first activity of the day was creating “classroom agreements,” in which all group members were invited to respond to the following question: In this workshop, what supports do you need in order for you to learn best? List at least three. After writing individually for a minute or two, participants then were invited to talk with a neighbor and come to an agreement on 3 - 5 common ideas. From that point, participants gathered in groups of four, then eight, and then all 20+ of us reconvened to settle on 3 - 5 group agreements. The responses weren’t so differ...

I teach at an independent high school, and one of the courses I teach, Advanced Composition, is a class focused on lots and lots of process writing. While I'm a fan of basic decorum in a school setting, I do introduce students to a word that some may deem too vulgar for classroom discourse: sh*t. I say it a lot. I can't say this term is original by any stretch, and I'm not trying to curry favor with the kids by being that edgy, cool teacher who drops f-bombs, stands on desks, and makes students rip up their copies of Dickens while sounding my barbaric yawp (I prefer subtlety). But sh*t certainly has its purpose. Thanks to Bird by Bird author, Anne Lamott, "sh*t" has become a household word for the beginning of the writing process. She introduces writers--and writing teachers--to the concept of " Sh*tty First Drafts ." Lots of writing teachers make reference to this chapter of Bird by Bird , and many share in Lamott's philosophy: Now, pract...