As I sat at my desk one evening grading papers, I got stuck on a poem. It was the final paper in a stack I’d been working on for nine hours. I stared and stared at it. I read it aloud once, twice, three times. I counted the syllables in each line. I wrote out […]
The Comments Should Be the Assessment Read More »
In part one of this series we looked at relationship as a prerequisite to assessment. In his book Norms and Nobility, David Hicks says “Knowledge – the activity of learning – gives teacher and student a common ground for friendship – while accentuating their unequal status.” This friendship, whether between parent and child, teacher and
The Three R’s of Assessment: Part 2 – Response Read More »
When I first began teaching other people’s children, the thought of assessing their work filled me with no small amount of dread. Even back then, when it was simply known as “grading”, I became anxious at the thought of telling others that their work had, or had not, met the standard. Why oh why hadn’t
The Three R’s of Assessment: Part 1 – Relationship Read More »
When the Grading Session begins: Remember that writing is not like mathematics or grammar, but like music and sports. It is learned not by problem-solving and checking, but by practice and coaching. Remember that, as in coaching, not all errors or weakness should be addressed at one time. I must limit my critique so my
A Litany for Essay-Grading Read More »
Why should tests cause us suffering rather than blessing? Finding a test that encourages instead of depressing.
The Anxiety Free Test Read More »
Our Lord, Jesus Christ is not a specialist. He did not come to earth to do one project or to solve one problem and then go back to heaven. Christ is, as the Apostles John, Paul, and Peter all repeatedly assert and assume, the One in whom all things are held together. He is the
He Came to His Own Read More »
On July 18th I stopped contemplating Harmony with about 250 colleagues, friends, and kindred spirits. On the 22nd, I drove up to the University of Kentucky for a week of Latin immersion, and from August 3-7 I was immersed even more deeply into the love of truth-seeking that is the CiRCE Apprenticeship. After each, I
Theme and Variation Read More »
Until catholic Institutions throw off the yoke of the accrediting boards, and exercise a free judgment on basic educational questions, they will never be able to realize in practice any of the principles which belong to Catholic education. Reforming Education: The Order of Learning, page 185, 186
Adler On Accreditation (1941!) Read More »
A Reflection on the Ubiquity of Imitation
Who Do You Imitate and Why? Read More »
The best American schools have yet to remember why western civilization introduced “school” as the foundation of that civilization. Mostly, that is because the more we talk about school, the less we do it. That seems to be the necessary conclusion to draw from a Liberty Fund retreat I attended during which we spent two
Leisure, Plato’s Republic, and American Education Read More »
In light of my recent discussion with David Kern and Chris Perrin, I thought I would share my first adjustment of the school year. One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling is the ability to make adjustments. There is the danger of making so many adjustments that we never settle in to the work at
