Monthly Archives: January 2012

“Principles of Great Teaching”

Our school is again (as schools should do periodically) considering what makes “great teaching”, trying to distill our collective wisdom/experience down into a few pithy principles that can be elaborated as needed at various grade levels or for different courses. … Continue reading

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The “F” word

At St. John’s, it’s not what you think.  Or rather, it is, but that particular word is in such common currency, both here and elsewhere, as to have lost most semantic value.  The real “F” word here is “failure.” Because … Continue reading

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“Declaring victory”

Although the phrase “declaring victory” leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those old enough to remember Richard Nixon’s having done so in Vietnam (and even in younger people who remember the second George Bush having done so in … Continue reading

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Designing a course

I am a strong proponent of backward design: it seems to me, as the saying goes, that if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re unlikely to get there.  When planning a course, I like either to have stated explicitly for … Continue reading

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ICG

Went to Austin to give a talk this week at St. Stephen’s at an ICG (Independent Curriculum Group) sponsored workshop that served as St. Stephen’s inservice–a very clever idea, btw.  I was set up to talk both on integrating AP … Continue reading

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