In response to America’s continued lackluster performance on international standardized tests, along with stagnant growth here at home among the lower socioeconomic groups, the deep thinkers in public education press for more and more testing in our schools as a means of addressing the problem. In some ways the system can be likened to parents […]
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As a first-generation college student, I’m also the only member in my biological family to have attended and graduated high school. I see the promise of education very differently than my family. Knowledge is my sanctuary–it’s my safe place. I grew up witnessing both of my parents struggle with addiction, unemployment, and incarceration. Their relaxed
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Our love was vivid and real, a rare dream. You terrified me like a shark in a movie. I was stupid enough to think it was possible. You’ll be safe if you don’t look, I thought. You had no special powers, yet saved me every day. You wanted everything to be for the first time.
Zebulon Pike was an idiot. At least that’s what I was taught in school. More than one of my teachers portrayed Pike as an example of how getting lost while blundering through the wilderness can land a person in the history books. For example, Pikes Peak wasn’t named for Pike because he climbed it. It
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Okay, maybe saving the internet is a bit hyperbolic, but better math instruction could reduce some of the arguing that occurs. Internet trolls and pranksters are an internet hazard that most of us would like to see less of. Trolls are a separate issue. but there are certain pranksters that like to take advantage of
How Math Teachers Can Save the Internet from the PEMDAS Debate Read More »
In Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare did more than just shape the structure and content of the English language—he created human nature as we understand it today. As James Shapiro explains, “Shakespeare remains so popular and his most memorable characters feel so real because through them Shakespeare invented something that hadn’t
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