The Tyranny Of Testing: Part 4, 2020
In the first three installments of this series (enter “the tyranny of testing” into the SMM homepage search bar), I …
Category Archives: Education
Education: The Worst Form
I have seen, of late, various memes to the effect of: “with schools closed, we’re seeing we don’t need them …
The Tyranny Of Testing: Part 3, 2020
In the first article of this series I explained the incredible amount of time lost to mandatory, high-stakes testing (and …
The Tyranny Of Testing: Part 2, 2020
As this is written/updated on March 21, 2020, Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, due to the Coronavirus and mandatory, state …
The Tyranny Of Testing: Part 1, 2020
At the end of May, 2013, I began what would turn into a four part series on the problem of …
Appropriating Music: Nobody Knows…
My senior year in high school, I earned a place at our state’s All-State Choir Concert. Full disclosure: even then, …
Politicizing Instruction: A Higher Calling
I have, upon occasion, reported on public schools engaging in outrageously inappropriate anti-Trump, anti-America—partisanship. Usually, the schools involved do little …
STAAR Testing: Perverting Poetry 2020
As regular readers know, I am not a fan of mandatory, high-stakes testing, which accomplishes virtually nothing, but makes up …
Anarchy: Coming To A School Near You?
Among the absolutely essential conditions for learning is a quiet, genuinely safe environment. If kids and teachers can’t be reasonably …
The 1619 Project: Academic Fraud
Do you remember Michael Bellesiles, gentle readers? This may help:
The Definition Of Insanity
“To do the same things again and again, and to expect different results, is the definition of insanity.” Albert Einstein …
Lazy
I find myself in my final semester of a long teaching career, reflecting on two things: cynicism and laziness. Lily …
College: Certificate of Attendance
It is an article of faith among the self-imagined elite that Deplorables are sub human. Mentally ill, racist, sexist, homophobic, …
New Jersey: Gay Grammar?
Take your work seriously, but never yourself. Dame Margot Fonteyn
