Chris McEnroe's Blog – April 2011 Archive (3)

In this op/ed in the WSJ Scott Adams articulates a number of experiences that chronicle what he regards as the most important, useful lessons he has learned.  It reminded me of an op/ed in the Boston Globe recently (memory failing at the moment) by a Boston College professor who lamented that the students he is seeing today have been deprived of the opportunity to flounder.   One of…

The majority of the kids I teach are extremely motivated to get into the best college they can possibly get into.  The condition does allow me to make the observation that part of my role as teacher has gravitated toward coaching students into grade profiles, which is a much less complicated job than authentic teaching.  The result has been that teaching practice rarely, if ever,  is the topic of deliberative conversation at my school.  We talk a lot about individuals and program and a…

When crisis mode becomes the norm, you know you have a problem.  When more of what you are doing is reactive instead of proactive, you know you have a problem.  Architecture seems like such a frothy (think latte) thing to be concerned about, but I HAVE A PROBLEM and it has to do with the way teaching space is designed. At my school teachers are not consulted about anything with respect to classroom design.  The guy who decided upon and installed the LCD projector, a wonderful guy, is a handy…