Every day as a teacher overflows with amazing moments of connection, insight, and discovery and so many things that don’t progress as I had intended, interactions that feel incomplete, and situations that I wanted to play out differently. I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the things I want to change and […]Read Post ›
The work that my students have done on these projects has been awe inspiring. This two month project has been a poignant reminder for me of the abilities and insights of young people. Click on the image above to see the work of Modern Day de Tocquevilles. Click here to read more background about the […]Read Post ›
[Cross-posted on Edutopia] Sharing my rough writing with others is a miserable experience. I know that outside input is a crucial part of revision, yet I squirm uncomfortably as those I trust make comments and probe with questions. Inevitably I begin to feel resentment grow as I am forced to reevaluate passages that I thought were […]Read Post ›
During the past two months 12th Graders in my Government classes have become Modern Day de Tocquevilles. After having spent the first quarter of the course inquiring about democracy we used Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America as a model for students to research and present detailed observations and analysis about the state of democracy in […]Read Post ›
[Cross-posted on Edutopia] Learning is a messy process — and authentic, project-based learning immerses us in unique parts of this mess. There are days when my check-ins with students reveal that many young people are lost or unclear about how to proceed with the early stages of a project. “What topic are you going to […]Read Post ›
Mr J Block 