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When we have a moment of clarity after a period of confusion, some of us want to completely overhaul our lives.
We’re like Patty White Bull, who awoke after having spent sixteen years in a state of unconsciousness and asserted that she was going to take up running. During the brief window in which we can see so easily what needs to be changed, we want to change it all.
Read MoreI had big plans for the summer I was twelve.
I can’t remember what all of them were, but I know one of them was to practice the piano every day for thirty minutes. Maybe I was also going to write or draw every day and keep my room tidy.
Apparently, I haven’t changed a whole lot in terms of the things I’d like to accomplish. But I’m a lot better at sticking to my routines these days. What I didn’t know when I was twelve was that when, inevitably, I failed to follow through on my commitment, it wasn’t a permanent failure. I could always try again.
Read MoreWhen it comes to school reopening, The Little Middle School is doing our very best to find a way that our students and teachers can sustainably minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.
We can keep students online, sure — we have an online school anyway — but online school was never meant to, on its own, meet all of a child’s social needs every day for an entire year. It’s not sustainable.
Read MoreMy team and I teach our students to create their own learning plans.
It’s exciting to empower them to make their own decisions about pacing. For instance, if they want to finish an algebra textbook by April 1, they might realize that they have to do two hours outside of class each weekday. When this “homework” is self-administered and in the service of a goal, they are much more enthusiastic about it.
Read MoreThe other day, I was playing with my little nephew. He was intent on going down one of those small plastic backyard slides.
Like many toddlers, he likes to carry things around with him, especially balls and toy cars. With a ball in his hand, it was challenging to climb the steps to the slide platform, but he managed.
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