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the middle school paradox

Sometimes I wonder if the reason Joel and Micah love the back yard is the sense of perspective they get. Much of their world requires looking up, feeling lower and undersized in a world of towering adults. The backyard has tiny bugs - little manageable Read More...
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2010 03 20

John Spencer

2 Comments

two cures for democracy inaction

It's no secret that democracy has jumped the shark in America. Voter turnout remains low and millions of Americans remain dissaffected and disenchanted. So what's the solution? How do we bring back civic participation? I have two options: Option #1 - Read More...
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2010 03 19

John Spencer

2 Comments

musings on spring

I made the mistake this evening of asking Joel if he was making dirt. "I'm making dust," he tells me. "Dirt is made from things that die and from poop and from rocks when they die." I was struck by the efortlessness of dirt and flowers and orange trees. Read More...
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2010 03 17

John Spencer

1 Comments

ice and dogma

Christy and I visited Sonic the other night (the fastfood joint and not the hedgehog) and I ordered a forty four ounce of soda. I thought it would be soda, but instead it was a large bucket of ice with just enough soda in between the cracks. There sips Read More...
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2010 03 17

John Spencer

1 Comments

homonyms

As the kids work on their budgets, a boy calls me over, "Mr. Spencer, cell can mean a prison cell and it can mean a cell on a spreadsheet and it can mean a cell phone, right?" "Right." "So, is that a homonym or a homophone? I think it's a homophone and Read More...
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2010 03 17

John Spencer

2 Comments

I'm still the teacher

Teaching is one of the few professions left without an Orwellian euphemism. We aren't Cognitive Development Specialists or Core Curricular Instructional Achievement Specialists. Alan, a guy I know in that cyber-vapor kind of way tells me that some people Read More...
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2010 03 16

John Spencer

7 Comments

from differentiating to empowering

Someone recently asked me about a section in my book Teaching Unmasked where I argue that less instruction is sometimes better. I mentioned that the goal should be to move from differentiation to empowerment. Today's lesson demonstrates a little bit of Read More...
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2010 03 15

John Spencer

1 Comments

a few more conversations with my sons

Joel says, "I want my compass to talk." "It's impossible." "But you said it tells you where to go, daddy." "What I meant is that you can read it." "But I need it to talk to me in case I'm lost in the forest." "Joel, if you're ever in the forest, you know Read More...
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2010 03 14

John Spencer

6 Comments

my new book is available

Order on Amazon.com: $4.99 My new book Teaching Unmasked is available in the following formats right now: As a free eBook (you can download the PDF file) On Kindle for $1.00 In Print for $4.99 On a blog (within the next few days) As a free audio book Read More...
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2010 03 13

John Spencer

14 Comments

the perils of being a moderate

My left-wing progressive friends feel disenchanted with Obama. The slogans of hope and change have run dry and they're confused by a president who has failed to pass health care reform, continues to pursue war and has bailed-out large corporations rather Read More...
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2010 03 12

John Spencer

11 Comments

guest blogger Bruce W. on pay-for-performance

by Bruce W. (aka Bat Dude) Historians debate the emergence of superheroes as a dominant force for social justice. Some argue that the original superheroes were the saints (think folks on candles and not football players). The capes were originally monastic Read More...
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2010 03 11

John Spencer

18 Comments

Drive - book review - part one

I'm currently on Chapter Four of Daniel Pink's book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us . I've been participating in a book study group with the Nerdfighteria Misfits. Here are my thoughts thus far: Somewhere in my freshmen year of college, Read More...
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2010 03 10

John Spencer

2 Comments

what I can learn from early elementary teachers

I once sat in a meeting full of early elementary education teachers. It was a bizarre location, filled with bubbly talks of picture books and peppered with Pamper Chef party invitations. The speaker said, straight-faced, "Lee Canter is great and I recommend Read More...
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2010 03 6

John Spencer

6 Comments

narrowcast nation

We have a substitute teacher who showed up wearing a shirt with paisleys and donning a permed mullet. A student asked him, "Are you a fan of Hall and Oates?" "Hall and Oates rock!" he answered. The student began to sing an impromptu version of "You Make Read More...
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2010 03 5

John Spencer

5 Comments

connecting

"What is one item of technology that the world would be better off without?" I ask one morning for Bell Work. It feels like a soft ball question, but a few students struggle with it. "Let's get to work," I implore two boys. "I'm sorry, I'm thinking," Read More...
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2010 03 2

John Spencer

3 Comments

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