The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values. – William S. Burroughs In the 1970s and 1980s I recall reading and re-reading sections of a small text on values education. I know that I was incorporating some of its content into my secondary English classes in public schools. I also…
You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world. – Tom Brokaw Most nights when I let Dexter out at about 9:30 PM, I…
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. – Oscar Wilde Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. It is hard to say if I fight this statement more as a teacher or as a student. Having taught…
The man who has no imagination has no wings. – Muhammad Ali The fact is, I was never too bright in school. I ain’t ashamed of it, though. I mean, how much do school principals make a month? – Muhammad Ali In June, it seems that gardening, graduation, marriage, and gay pride are what we are…
Coyote, raccoon, field mouse, sparrow, Each watching from darkness this man With the moon on a leash. – Ted Kooser, Winter Morning Walks For a few weeks I have been thinking about a shift in my thoughts and feelings about the death of my husband last December. The great sense of loss is abiding with little…
Thus, in sharing stories, we have the potential for forging new relationships…. – Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (1994). The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. This week I have been contemplating the mediating power of words as I blog about community building. This exercise…
The storytelling self is a social self, who declares and shapes important relationships through the mediating power of words. – Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (1994). The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. My parents were both inveterate storytellers. My dad, often the life of…
… in sharing stories, we have the potential for forging new relationships, including local, classroom “cultures” in which individuals are interconnected and new “we’s” formed. – Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (1994). The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. When Paul and I moved from our…
The storytelling self is a social self, who declares and shapes important relationships through the mediating power of words. Thus, in sharing stories, we have the potential for forging new relationships, including local, classroom “cultures” in which individuals are interconnected and new “we’s” formed. – Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (1994). The need for…
This week I started writing my daily blog posts with the premise that there is a lot of work to go around in developing robust, active, engaging communities where people really stick to each other. I sat down and quickly identified two dozen things people could be doing to build and sustain communities. (The full…
Creating Community for Everyone 