education
Lessons on Slowing Down
People often ask me, as a person who has spent nearly twenty years in the classroom, what I think about AP classes. Should their child take this AP or that AP? And they are often surprised by my my response that nobody gives a shit about AP classes. Really….
NYS Grads Ain't Reddy For College
This is the kind of news story that makes me sad. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: It’s a rough time to be in education….
To Kindle or Nook? That Was The Question.
So you remember how I blogged about how I couldn’t decide which e-device to go with. Well, I decided….
Lessons From Losing
As a self-admitted, ridiculously competitive parent who wants her child to know how good it can feel to work hard and win, it is my duty to report that my son competed in a fencing competition last weekend….
Lessons on E-readers
Valentine’s Day is coming up, and all the stores seem to be insinuating that the best lovers buy their significant others e-readers, so yesterday, I drove around town trying out various e-devices. I needed to feel them in my own hands, see what they could and could not do. I am definitely leaning in one direction, and I must admit, it is not the direction in which I thought I would be going. I figured I’d ask you, my beloved readers, for your opinions….
The Giver: Thirteen Years Later
It’s happening. My son is currently reading the first piece of literature that I ever taught. He is reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the story of a young boy named Jonas living in a highly controlled community some time in the future. The novel fits into a larger genre of cautionary tales called “dystopian literature.” If a utopia is a society in which everything is perfect, a dystopia is the opposite: everything has gone wrong. But my son doesn’t get this. Yet….
A Word On Grades
Back when I was in graduate school, we learned that C meant “Average” — and guess what? Most students are average. (Not your kids, of course. Your kids are gifted and talented.)…
If My Kid Writes One More Book Report…
I get it. My school district clearly wants our kids to pass the standardized test.
They want a slice of the pie.
But our kids are dying of boredom….
So About That Sign
Yesterday at 7 am, I posted a blog about a sign in my local grocery store that has been driving me bonkers for years.
By late morning, I received an email from a representative from Consumer Affairs. While the rest of us were chattering about the sign and its grammar, one of my loyal readers — a former Wegmans’ employee –made a call and the sign was promptly removed….