Quasi Dictum

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Location: Vancouver, WA, United States

Teacher

Saturday, April 29, 2006

I was poking on Alfie Kohn's website today and found this great article.

Why are our schools not places of joy?" This question, posed by John I. Goodlad exactly 20 years ago, was both a summary of his landmark study of American classrooms and a plea for his readers to realize that a place called school didn’t have to be as bleak as it was.

Today things are different, of course. Today we rarely even ask the question.

That so few children seem to take pleasure from what they’re doing on a given weekday morning, that the default emotional state in classrooms seems to alternate between anxiety and boredom, doesn’t even alarm us. Worse: Happiness in schools is something for which educators may feel obliged to apologize when it does make an appearance. After all, they wouldn’t want to be accused of offering a "feel-good" education.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Here is a link for pictures that a colleague took at Montpelier:

VA Pix

Not every picture is good but you get the idea. Really an amazing place and I've used some of the wall charts in class already.

The house renovation pictures are probably the best. A huge process to "create" 1820 again. The archelogists can even find the correct nail holes in walls that the Madison family used to hang art.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

I spent the weekend at James Madison's Montpelier with 24 other teachers engaged in a seminar and some sight seeing.

I would recommend this trip for any educator (especially American history teachers). What a wonderful experience to study and discuss the Constitution. The staff was great and very accommodating.

I can't wait to go back.

More later. I'll post some pictures.