Tag Archives: teaching

“Mom, What’s the Right Age to Start Having Sex?”

Posted on August 8, 2014 by

“Mom, what’s the right age to start having sex?” That was exactly the question I wasn’t expecting, sitting with my 13-year-old son and my husband in a restaurant overlooking the Hudson, sipping a cocktail, waiting for our food to arrive. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Motherhood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

What Are We Preparing Our Students For?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by

Today on Perfect Whole we have a guest post by my colleague, Richard Smith. A longer version of this essay was published in our school newspaper. Rich and I work in an extremely high-achieving school district in which nearly all … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An Angel Packs a Suitcase

Posted on December 15, 2012 by

Politicians and business leaders demand that schools prepare students for the future, but the future is notoriously difficult to predict. Which future shall we prepare them for? Star Trek  or The Hunger Games? How can we responsibly prepare students for whatever the … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Education | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Teach the Timeless

Posted on July 15, 2012 by

Version 6.0, 2012 Did you ever see “Shift Happens”? You might remember it as the “Did You Know?” presentation, full of startling statistics about the relative populations of China, India and the United States, and about the exponential growth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Vocation, Virtue, and Jerry Sandusky

Posted on June 23, 2012 by

Jerry Sandusky, convicted serial abuser of vulnerable children, got away with molesting boys for decades because of a deeply-ingrained belief in American culture that football coaches are inherently virtuous. Football coaches at all levels, from peewee to the NFL, are … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Education | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

This Essay is Not Living Up to Its Potential

Posted on April 1, 2012 by

You’re not working up to your potential! Raise your hand if your teachers told you this when you were growing up. Wow! That many of you! That’s a LOT of unlived-up-to potential! Let us pause for a moment and imagine … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Motherhood, Volta | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Post-Apocalyptic Career Counseling, Part II

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

II. Life Beyond the Success Algorithm “My whole life, I had been doing everything everybody told me. I went to the right school. I got really good grades. I got all the internships. Then, I couldn’t do anything.” –Rebecca Chapman, … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Education | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Post-Apocalyptic Career Counseling, Part I

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

I. Demise of the Standard-Issue Career Advice What are you telling the rising generation about how to succeed in the post-apocalyptic economy? Is it something like this? Pay attention to your teachers, do your homework, and study for your tests. … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Education | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Elegy for a Thousand Stolen Books

Posted on January 1, 2012 by

After the seven-year project of weeding my high school library, one task remained: inventory. I had avoided it for several years, reasoning that there wasn’t much point in carefully accounting for books I would probably discard anyway. If someone had … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Libraries, Education | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Funeral for a Digital Immigrant

Posted on December 1, 2011 by

Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the presence of God and in the company of the education profession to lay to rest our dear brother, the Digital Immigrant. To most, the Digital Immigrant was a hapless but earnest educator, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments