Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully
A 12-year- old once told me, “I love big words. They taste delicious.” I couldn’t agree more, but I am not as discerning. I love all words. I love the power of words and the difference just the right one can make in a story. So, let me help you with any writing or editing projects you have. I’ll help you find the most delicious words.
Physics professor Carl Bender embodies that good old Missouri saying, “show me.” His knack for questioning things often taken for granted has led to exciting results.
As a young teacher in the 1960s, all Jonathan Kozol wanted to do was to share his passion for great literature with his students. So he read them poems. He read poems by William Butler Yeats, and he read poems by Robert Frost. The principal applauded him. But then Kozol read Langston Hughes poems to his students and he was fired.
Nothing much surprises Chris Crutcher, author of numerous young adult novels, including Ironman, Whale Talk, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, and Stotan!. Having worked extensively as a therapist for those experiencing child abuse and neglect, Crutcher has seen the dark underbelly of life.
In the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism, followers strive to bring harmony to the universe through the balance of opposites.
The day I meet her, Ollie Watts Davis MMUS ‘82 FAA, AMUSD’88 FAA, wears an ivory pants suit, rings on four of her fingers, piles of bracelets on each wrist, red nail polish and matching lipstick. There is just no other way to say this: she is gorgeous. She exudes a stunning positive energy as well, accompanied with a smile so bright that, as Frank Sinatra crooned, “she walks by and dims the sunlight’s gleam.”
A mere generation or two ago, a strong back, stamina and loyalty were a guarantee of regular employment. But with the rise of the high-technology sector and the gradual shifting of the economy away from agriculture and manufacturing, brainpower is the name of the game these days.
For more than half a century, Nobel Prize-winner and concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel (pronounced EH-lee vee-ZEL), has used his voice and his influence to make sure the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II.
Eboo Patel ‘96 LAS has the radical idea that people from other religions shouldn’t kill each other.
Martha Gillette’s grin can easily light up a room, but behind that thousand-watt grin is a determination that could stop a freight train.
What do class discussions, quick writes, reader response journals, quizzes, and writing conferences all have in common? They are all examples of the wide range of classroom-based activities that teachers use to measure how well their students are learning.