When Lisa and Matt told us that they were looking for an apartment I was thrilled. Lisa warned us that it would take a while to find a livable place for a reasonable price in Cambridge, but I thought, “How hard could it be?” Surely they would come up with something. They were looking during […]
Those of you who have been reading my columns through the years know how enthusiastic I am about embracing any new technology that comes along. I love the newness, the challenge, the unexplored frontier. There’s nothing I relish more than learning that a device that I depend on everyday to make my life easier is […]
I couldn’t stop laughing. Steve called out from the living room wanting to know what was so funny. All I could do was point to the article in Sunday’s Boston Globe about a new book by Adam Mansbach aimed at sleep deprived parents called, “Go the F**k to Sleep.” Although it looks deceptively like a […]
We’ve just finished reading two short stories by Mark Twain, entitled “Eve’s and Adam’s Diary.” Twain describes Adam as a man with little imagination, caring only about building structures and animal husbandry, and Eve as intelligent, imaginative and courageous but also vain and self important. The task that Eve loves best (besides naming all the […]
Part of being a trainer who teaches teachers is supporting them when they go back to their classrooms to begin implementing the techniques that you have taught them. You exchange emails, speak on the phone and then eventually visit their classrooms to see them in action. It’s always a nerve-wracking experience for a teacher, no […]
I swore to myself that I would not write about the weather; after all, what could be more boring than writing about the weather for God’s sake? Maybe talking about the weather, and that’s exactly what everyone in Boston has been doing for almost two weeks now. That’s because New England is proving Mark Twain […]
I’ve been teaching writing structures coupled with graphic organizers for the past week. Do those phrases mean anything to you at all? Though it all sounds rather esoteric, it’s really pretty basic stuff that helps students to comprehend what they’re reading. Our students insist that they read just fine, but ask them a question about […]
I’ve seen Passover for Dummies and how-to books on how to approach the Passover holiday. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen a “Seder in a box.” According to Lisa Wangsness’ Boston Globe article on Tuesday, March 29, JewishBoston.com is offering its first do-it-yourself Seder kit to Boston residents this month. (A Seder […]
Ah, guilt. The bottomless well that never dries out. We give it, we get it, sometimes we ask for it when we do really stupid things. But the worst, the very worst, is the guilt that we give ourselves courtesy of the “should” voices in our heads. The “you-should-be-doing-this” or, inversely, “you-shouldn’t-have-done-that.” Years ago I […]
While teaching a new reading skill the other day in class, I was reminded yet again of how little my students know about the world outside their neighborhoods. Teaching comprehension according to this new method is difficult enough, but when I’m also presented with the challenge of filling in crater-sized knowledge gaps, it’s put-my-head-on-the-desk-and-sigh time. […]
