For the past 18 years, I’ve taught at secular schools with their own rich sets of values. But Ariel Burger’s Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom brought back memories from my early teaching and, in the process, helped me with two teaching conundrums… Continue reading
Category: Storytelling
“Shout” by Laurie Halse Anderson, Bookclique
It’s hard to imagine a time when publishers believed “teenagers didn’t like to read,” as Laurie Halse Anderson’s Shout remembers. Into this seemingly barren literary landscape in 1999 flared Anderson’s novel Speak, a now-classic work about a girl’s depression… Continue reading
“Musical Madness for Four, or Fifty,” Well-Schooled
“Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch… Again!” As I banged out the opening octaves from the first song of A Chorus Line, the baby grand’s sound filling our black box theater, I realized I should have practiced more. And I definitely should have prepared more for… Continue reading
“The Unexpected Jewish Ritual That Helps Me Relax,” Kveller
On a recent summer evening the house was quiet, except for our neighbor’s construction workers sweeping gravel off the driveway. I had just dropped off my younger son at tennis lessons and my older son at cross-country practice… Continue reading
“Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” by Lori Gottlieb, Bookclique
A teacher friend and I have what we like to call a “book club of two.” We meet throughout the year and especially in the summers, on patios on L.A.’s Ventura Boulevard over spinach salad and iced tea, shrimp tacos and sauvignon blanc. We have no specific criteria, but the books we love… Continue reading
“From Couch to 5K, For Real,” Well-Schooled
This is not one of those stories in which I show myself what I’m capable of or master a feat I’d never imagined accomplishing. Well, it’s sort of one of those stories — but really it’s a story about coaching, mentoring, and teaching. About how our seemingly small comments and actions can accrue to become… Continue reading
“Elton John’s Hidden Curriculum,” Well-Schooled
When I’ve attended concerts in the past — all artists decidedly from a previous generation — I’ve carried motifs as well as melodies back into my life. With Billy Joel, storytelling laced with a tinge of regret; with the Indigo Girls, social change and righteous indignation; with Bruce Springsteen, evocative yearning for just about everything. Yet until recently, I’ve never… Continue reading
“Talking About Tragedy: Teachers Are Human Too,” MiddleWeb
As a history teacher who covers current events daily with eighth graders, I’m all too accustomed to the hard classroom conversations that follow an unfathomable act of violence. Bomb threats, attacks at concerts, white supremacist rallies – my students and I have discussed them all… Continue reading
“Teachers Recognize Those Who ‘Dive Into the Fray’ With Us,” Education Week Teacher
The person I always return to is my mother, Jane Schaffer. She taught high school English and was a teacher of teachers. I’ve written before about the help she gave me during my first years in the classroom. My mom reminded me… Continue reading
“On the Best Days, Our Students Teach Us,” MiddleWeb
This week it has been even more of a pleasure than usual to spend time with eighth graders. They’ve been creating social reform concept maps, an oldie-but-goodie project that I… Continue reading