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Author Archives: Abner Oakes
The value of homework
My son brought home a great assignment a few weeks ago – to identify around the house obtuse and acute angles – and he and I went a step further, taking pictures of the angles we found and emailing some … Continue reading
Observations on charter school start up
My good friend and former colleague Ken McLemore, who runs this shop that assists charter schools in Tennessee, sent me and some others a great note a few days ago about his charter school-related observations over the last few months, … Continue reading
Posted in School, School district
Tagged charter school, charter school support services, ken mclemore, tennessee
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Prospective parents visiting classrooms
Jay Mathews had a great post in today’s WaPo, highlighting two schools, one private, another public, and their refusal to let prospective parents visit classrooms. He wrote that, “I suspect many other schools, public and private, have the same knee-jerk … Continue reading
Posted in Classroom, Parents, School, School district, Teachers
Tagged jay mathews, washington post
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Writing, reading, and teaching poetry: Messages in bottles
One of my favorite classes in high school was a quarter-long course I took on vocabulary. Yeah, I know: I was doomed even then to be an English major. Mr. Whalen taught the class, each day we memorized ten words … Continue reading
Posted in Classroom, School, Teachers, Teaching
Tagged david roderick, greek roots, hamden high school, james tate, latin roots, Osip Mandelstam, poems, poetry, richard wilbur, teaching poetry, vocabulary
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Teaching character
Back in this post, I wrote about school culture, its importance, and the hard work it takes to make it a genuine and on-going part of the school. Too many schools try to get it through shortcuts, as they “build … Continue reading
Looking for a school or district report card?
You and your family are moving to a new state, and you have some idea of where you are moving – a metropolitan area, for example – but before you make any firm commitments, you want to get some sense … Continue reading