A glimpse inside Hillsdale College's network of classical schools across the country.
George Polya, a master in mathematics education in the early twentieth century, is credited with saying that if a problem takes fewer than 24 hours to solve, it isn't worth solving. When I first heard this, I was discouraged. How can I help my students to understand math if everything worth knowing takes so much… Continue reading Productive Struggle in Math
The physical space in which learning takes place has a profound effect on the student. This external environment should be intentionally chosen and set up in a way that supports student learning, ties into the curriculum, and emphasizes the unique relationship between the students and the teacher.
There's a reason why the image of a family gathered around a table enjoying a meal together invokes warm feelings of communion and kinship. While we can't recreate a shared family dinner with all its intimacy inside the schoolhouse, teachers can help to develop in children the kinds of virtues and conversational skills that are… Continue reading Civilized Meal Time and the Virtues of School Lunch
So what do we do in our classical classrooms? How do we form citizens who know where they come from, and where they are going? Citizens who know how to avoid repeating mistakes made in our past? Citizens who can creatively solve problems and who have been formed by the repeated practice of doing the next right thing?
A well-rounded vocabulary doesn’t just increase students’ comprehension of the material - it empowers them to explore new depths of understanding, and to develop a strong connection with those first mathematicians who developed the words factor, product, and multiple.
In our world of teachers and students, a special community exists within which we all seek to pursue knowledge and strong moral character, but what ought I to give to my students to help them reach those goals?
For me, February is the longest month of the school year. Boasting only 28 days, the weeks seem to drag on as we slog through classes. My students feel it too. Some who started the school year off with a fantastic work ethic and a sense of energy and excitement are now struggling to complete… Continue reading Protect Their Hearts
The Classical Classroom 