Hello, persons. Did any teachers out there read Alfie Kohn's article in EdWeek about teaching being more about learning as seen through the eyes of the students rather than through the eyes of the teacher?

When I read Kohn, I am usually reminded of how I felt as a student, particularly when I was in high school in the '70s and felt that most teachers and the school program were set up rigidly and I was to fit into that mold as best I could. I managed to squeeze myself into an acceptable shape and I passed, but what did I learn?

What do my students learn now?

My other reaction to Kohn is as a teacher, and I find myself thinking well, yeah, that's easy for you to say. You're not in the classroom, juggling a million things at once, trying to figure out how to help kids learn how to do whatever it is you're teaching a little or a lot better.

Still, I think the arguments are worth thinking about.



I have a superb group of middle school students to work with this year. Or is that half of them are fresh and unknown to me? Last year's group was wonderful in its own way, too. But truly, it is exciting to see the new faces and to get to know them. I used an assignment I picked up from a teachers' web site: "In a million words or fewer, describe your child," and it was a smashing success. (This is for the parents, not the kids.)

I don't know how my colleagues will react to the essays, but many of them made me cry. The depth of love and devotion these parents display for their children is mind-boggling. What better topic could there be for a parent? One mom even made a small flip book of photos of her daughter. And yes, there is a fair amount of bragging, but there is a lot of cold, hard honesty about children's struggles, and much information about difficult family dynamics that have given me a new perspective on what my students have been going through for some of their lives.

I highly recommend this assignment, but not to any of the teachers I work with at our school. Sorry about that!