I oppose lending credence to vicious falsehoods embraced by our President. My stance is not a matter of politics; it’s a matter of honesty and decency.
As a high school humanities teacher, my blood boiled when on Thursday, Nov. 5, President Donald J. Trump claimed widespread voter fraud in a primetime address from the White House grounds.
“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” he said. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late — we’re looking at them very strongly. But a lot of votes came in late.”
Not only are those claims entirely unfounded and baseless, but those words, coming directly from the mouth of the…
Caitlin Flanagin’s cover story favors easy insults and zingers over practical advice and bridge-building.
Several years ago, this high school history and journalism teacher was covering anti-private school rhetoric in the mainstream press. I wanted (and still want) all school sectors to work together, not against one another, and I just couldn’t take the complete lack of ethics involved in some truly horrendous reporting.
In 2015, I wrote an article for The Atlantic about the media’s obsession with villainizing private schools. “I can’t help but wonder how much the media have intensified animosity among all types of school personnel — and not just between those in public and private institutions,” I wrote. …
Help stressed out, anxious, teenagers with social and emotional learning.
At the end of the fall semester, a distraught junior met with me about her grade in American History.
“This isn’t fair with all of my studying and hard work,” she said. “My parents will be angry and demand that I need to do better, that an A- is not good enough for college. You can’t give me anything less than an A.”
Administrators offer bogus excuses for not having vibrant student newspapers—even as school mission statements trumpet the importance of student voice. It’s time to take decisive action. Here’s how.
From the fourth grade on, and now as a high school teacher at my alma mater, I’ve been privileged to belong to the independent school community. Not only have I experienced firsthand what makes our small but vibrant community special, but I’ve also connected with colleagues and peer institutions to hone my craft — as well as learn more about the values our schools share. Across the board, I’ve found that independent schools pride themselves on offering one-on-one attention, smaller class sizes, and a caring and nurturing environment for students to reach their potential.
Many independent schools also share similar…
Educators must speak out against the President’s recent tweet about Elizabeth Warren’s presidential bid announcement. There is no gray area with such racist, ignorant, abhorrent language.
As a high school history teacher, I had always felt strongly about remaining opaque politically.
For the following reasons, I justified my stance to my students.
1. Indoctrination. I believe that much of the nation automatically identifies teachers as liberals. While there might be some truth to this stereotype, as with all stereotypes, there are exceptions. Moreover, a teacher who may hold liberal sentiments is not necessarily out to recruit new party members. That is ludicrous thinking, but to avoid the headache of defending against accusations, I have refrained from sharing my personal views.
2. Perceived bias. Each year…
“I see a direct connection between what I learned in journalism and what I’m doing now,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham.
However much I struggled, only when I found my passion for news reporting did my success in the humanities begin to soar — so much so, in fact, that I now teach journalism to my own history students, hopeful that they too will benefit from the combination.
I think it’s safe to say that this has resulted in a good degree of success.
Take it from Preston Michelson, who recently graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in journalism and political science. He served as founding editor of The Falconer, the student news site of Palmer Trinity School (Palmetto Bay, Florida)…
If teachers must give high-stakes assessments, allow for full-credit retakes.
Once during an exam on the Civil War, one of my 11th graders burst into tears, fearful of what a low grade on the test might do to her future. “I’ll never get into college now,” she told me, as I tried to console her. “I might as well give up now. What’s the point?”
Another time, when presented with irrefutable proof of her having lifted portions of her research paper, an otherwise strong student started crying hysterically: “I know it was really, really wrong, but this anxiety I feel to be perfect, it’s overriding my normal behavior and better…
Opening one’s ears is never as dangerous as closing them.
As an educator and a new parent of a son, I intend to do my best to raise him into a caring, responsible individual. In this endeavor, my wife and I are aware of the current political climate, especially the growth of the #MeToo movement, and what that means for treating women, and everyone else, for that matter, with respect, equality, and thoughtfulness.
Unfortunately, those three crucial traits are sorely lacking in American culture today, and our elected representatives, who should strive to embody all things decent, seem to prefer partisan squabbling, name-calling, and behavior so poor that calling it…
Providing a platform for fools to speak, even in our venomous political climate, is essential to revealing their foolishness.
As a kid, I loved watching NBC’s Seinfeld–in fact, I still do. But no episode made me laugh more than the 116th, “The Soup Nazi,” which aired in 1995 during the show’s seventh season, when I was in middle school.
In one scene, George (played by Jason Alexander) is trying his best to follow a bizarre, authoritarian ordering system at a popular new soup kitchen, run by someone with a thick accent who appears to be an immigrant. When George doesn’t receive complimentary bread…
How marriage brought together the two sectors.
David Cutler and Elana Rome are both teachers. Cutler is finishing his ninth year teaching high school history and journalism at his alma mater, Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Rome is completing her fourth year teaching sixth-grade math at Brown Middle School in the Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts. She previously taught in Cambridge and Framingham, Massachusetts. The couple share how their personal partnership has advanced their professional growth.
David and Elana: As a newly engaged couple, we give new meaning to the term private-public partnership. For all that distinguishes our work environments, at the end of…
David Cutler
A high school history and journalism teacher from Massachusetts.
