People who know me or pay attention to my Facebook page or my website are probably familiar with one of my favorite quotes: “Pay attention not only to the cultivation of knowledge but to the cultivation of qualities of the heart, so that at the end of education, not only will you be knowledgeable, butContinue reading “Compassion in education”
Category Archives: teaching
Why Experts Are Not the Best Teachers (via Worst Professor Ever)
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this. On the one hand, I take issue with the author’s assertion that “knowing something at the PhD level benefits very few of your fellow citizens.” And the final comment, about “amateurs” being “cheaper to hire,” really gets under my skin, because one of my personal missionsContinue reading “Why Experts Are Not the Best Teachers (via Worst Professor Ever)”
Student revenge: assign a teacher homework!
This April, when I return to the States and visit my family in Texas, I also am going to attend the huge conference of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, held this year in San Antonio. I’m reading fiction there, and I’m planning to reconnect with a bunch of scholars and colleagues I used toContinue reading “Student revenge: assign a teacher homework!”
American History WI
This is for all my friends and former colleagues in Wisconsin, who are making American history as we speak. America’s children will study these weeks in their US history and US government classes. These people in the streets these past few weeks — my friends — are our heroes, and our future generations will celebrateContinue reading “American History WI”
“Hubris” -the likely downfall of Gov. Walker? (via Teacher Reality)
For anyone still confused about what’s really happening in Wisconsin, this is an excellent, real-life summary of what’s at stake. Not politics, not ideologies. Just the real situation of so many real people and what they stand to lose if Walker’s bill passes. Please read it and share it. Marc Sears. a former public schoolContinue reading ““Hubris” -the likely downfall of Gov. Walker? (via Teacher Reality)”
The Current History of the Future of Publishing: Margaret Atwood speaks at the Tools of Change conference
This is a phenomenal presentation — from Margaret Atwood! — on the changes taking place in the publishing industry… and why we shouldn’t freak out about it. My favorite bit is her definition of “publishing,” because the rest of this presentation stems from that one seminal idea, and it’s awesome. The video of her presentationContinue reading “The Current History of the Future of Publishing: Margaret Atwood speaks at the Tools of Change conference”
The bravery of teachers
There’s been a lot in the news lately about state employees in Wisconsin protesting the attacks on their rights and their livelihoods. I posted about it here a week ago. Many of those protesters are teachers, K-12 as well as higher ed, and (at least as importantly, I think) their students. These protesters, many ofContinue reading “The bravery of teachers”
“Kill Bill Vol 3”: Education on the chopping block
Wisconsin is in serious trouble. Their budget is bleeding and they need to stop the wound. So newly-elected governor Scott Walker has proposed to slash state spending in drastic ways, and the state legislature is fast-tracking the budget proposal for a vote this week. Tomorrow, in fact. If that budget passes, Wisconsin will not merelyContinue reading ““Kill Bill Vol 3”: Education on the chopping block”
How textbooks are becoming cool
A few years ago, when all this technology was still emerging, I wrote a short piece advocating a major revolution in the textbook industry: I called for the educational publishing industry to replace print texts with e-textbooks. That piece became part of a chapter in a book on compassionate teaching that I’m writing, but itContinue reading “How textbooks are becoming cool”
Rest in peace, double space between sentences
I don’t know what sparked the recent surge in interest over the spacing rules between sentences, but there it is: we are asking ourselves once again which is correct, one space or two? I am weirdly old-fashioned in some ways regarding my approach to these things. I remember that when scholarly organizations first started switchingContinue reading “Rest in peace, double space between sentences”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 