A glimpse inside Hillsdale College's network of classical schools across the country.
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
In teaching rigorous content, there’s a golden mean between safeguarding students from any glimpse of ‘failure’ and letting them flounder miserably. That sweet spot is what I like to call the zone of desirable difficulties and meaningful mistakes. Nobody likes to feel like they’re wrong or unable to solve problems, especially adolescents keen on impressing… Continue reading Meaningful Mistakes & Desirable Difficulties
It is often said that the arts are a means of sharing in the "human experience." And while I probably heard that phrase a few too many times in my high school literature class not to hear it as cliché, there is a part of me that appreciates this time-honored saying. Our curriculum places an… Continue reading Embracing Humanity
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 consensus on the purpose of education among parents, teachers, and students is essential to a school's success. Students are able to recognize from the beginning that we go to school to learn!
There are a number of mistakes I have made teaching throughout the years, but I think perhaps the biggest was not providing enough studio demonstrations when I first started teaching art. Back then I had a fear that my demonstrations would not turn out well and I would lose credibility with the class if they… Continue reading The Power of a Demonstration
“Pourquoi est-ce que les vacances scolaires sont importantes?” Posing the question “Why are school breaks important?” to a room of high schoolers four days before the end of first semester garnered the exact passionate responses I anticipated from these tired youths. After some time for reflection, I recorded the class’ reactions on the board: “Nous sommes fatigués ! Il faut se reposer ! J’ai envie de dormir ! - We are tired! We have to rest! I need sleep!” As a teacher, I feel the same sentiments keenly this time of year.
With everyone’s minds on the family gatherings, vacation trips, or general time of relaxation so near at hand, it is especially hard to keep students’ attention and interest in class materials. However, we don’t want to waste the precious minutes we have with our students and make school that day feel like a waste for both you and them. So, what can be done to make the day productive?
We began our lesson on fractions, and I prepared to say the words I read in the manual the day before. "The numerator is the number above the fraction line. The denominator is the number underneath the fraction line. They represent parts being taken or the total number of parts in the whole, respectively." As I considered these words, I realized how abstract these ideas are. My lesson could be much more effective with a practical activity in my students’ hands.
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.
The Classical Classroom 