teachers

Operation Pied Piper: What were they thinking?

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In Hamelin in Lower Saxony. there’s an inscription on a wooden beam on the side of the Rattenfangerhaus (rat catcher’s house). An English translation on the plaque reads: In the year 1284 on the Day of John and Paul, the 26th of June, 130 children born in Hamelin were led away by a piper dressed … Read more

Good Enough

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The signs are everywhere. Along with so many other institutions, schools – and all those who work in them and for them – are in great distress.  Just look at the teacher responses to this tweet from yesterday One thing you wished that people understood about being a teacher in 2020 below… — Nicole Biscotti, … Read more

The Welsh Connection

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This is a follow-up to The Queen of Mean and one of a series about Headlands Grammar School and what I remember and learned in my seven year sentence. By the time I got to the sixth form I had learned to keep below Miss Jacob’s radar and anyway she had younger fish to fry. … Read more

The Queen of Mean

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When Senior Mistress Miss A. Jacob retired from Headlands School Mr.Magson had this to say in the school magazine: Two comments about that: While I don’t doubt the truth of Magson’s words, I didn’t know then, and don’t know now, any student who had a good word to say about Miss Jacob. There’s a little … Read more

Can and May and Merv

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Everyone who ever had Merv Comrie as a teacher at Headlands has a story to tell. Merv left an indelible impression on all those he taught.  My own favorite moment came as he was taking class 4M through Macbeth explaining everything line by line – that time-honored English teacher way of ensuring students will not … Read more

And of Course We Called Her “Nutty”

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Before I learned to be afraid of Miss Jacob I was terrified by Miss Almond. First week, first form at Headlands. First history class. Miss Almond, in her academic gown presiding. She was one of those teachers who could see round corners and knew what you were up to even though she was busy writing … Read more

Escape from the Spirit People

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When a re-wired, pack-rat educator takes a deep dive in the basement there’s no telling what she will find in those decades worth of edutrivia. (This post by the way is  Part Three of “My Life with the Spirit People”. Part One is here. You may ask: “Where is Part Two?” Well – I haven’t … Read more

Paper Cuts: Josh at the Sewing Machine

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The first day of alleged spring and another day disrupted by the rituals and routines of early dismissal. By  mid afternoon the buses had come and gone and all after-school activities and athletic practices cancelled. Students and faculty had wisely left ahead of the icy roads. Luz – our wonderful cleaner –  was vacuuming the … Read more

Problem-solving is what you do when ….

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Problem solving is what you do when you don’t know what to do. – Alinda. That’s just one of the things we learned yesterday at the new teachers orientation in Kenyon. Each teacher had five minutes to present a lesson to the group. These were videotaped and the playback classes used as a starting point … Read more

In Honor of Don Fried

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In honor of Don Fried and his three decades at Poughkeepsie Day School: Past and present colleagues, students, parents and trustees gathered from far and wide Sidereal sang Reminiscences were shared and new memories made Alumni brought their children to meet him and Don’s service to the school and its generations of students was recognized, … Read more

My Life as the Ink Monitor and How Not to Introduce 1:1 Laptops

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Technology is always disruptive. Think of the introduction of the printing press, or the combine harvester, or the mechanical looms that destroyed a way of life for cottage industry weavers. Some of them took to frame breaking and gave us the unfairly derisive term of “Luddite” for those who resist technological change. Technology as disruption … Read more