Teacher in a Strange Land

EH, POLITICAL 3: Revenge of the Myth

2008-10-11T19:12:12-04:00

Are we having fun yet? Is the presidential campaign a mere distraction from the extreme bobsled ride that is The Economy? And whatever happened to education as front-burner issue in the 2008 election? Even a $30 million promotional crusade from...

EH, POLITICAL 2: The Phantom Menace

2008-10-07T16:32:55-04:00

Once you start looking for teacher-vs.-politics skirmishes, they’re everywhere. Whether they’re terribly meaningful is another question. Our public schools are an open stage where the conflicts and issues of our collective lives as citizens play out. That’s hardly new, and...

EH, POLITICAL

2008-10-05T20:55:45-04:00

I wish I had a stock certificate for every time I’ve heard a teacher exclaim “I’m not very political, but…” Or maybe I’d rather have a dollar, cash money in the cookie jar, given the times—but the point stands: teachers,...

MUSIC EDUCATION CARNIVAL ~ OCTOBER 2008

2008-10-01T00:24:11-04:00

MUSIC EDUCATION CARNIVAL!! STEP RIGHT UP!! SPECIAL ATTRACTION: NEW MUSIC MEME!! This week, Teacher in a Strange Land is hosting the Music Education Carnival. New on the blogging Carnival scene, MEC is celebrating its fourth outing. Look for it on...

FAMILY VALUES IN MY HOME TOWN

2008-09-29T16:44:52-04:00

This is just a little local story about education. But it has some interesting political backspin. It also raises a few questions about separating public and private, and putting your money where your mouth is. So to speak. I live...

REMEDIAL ECONOMICS

2008-09-25T23:05:47-04:00

A friend sent me this breathtaking little gem today: The $700 billion government bailout, spread out over 200 million voters, comes to $3.5 million per person. NOTE: Not really. Only $3500 per voter. A mere $15,000 tab for my family...

DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND

2008-09-20T23:21:41-04:00

Most of my career as a music educator has involved secondary students, but in 2005 I spent a year in a K-4 building, teaching elementary general music. I saw first graders late every afternoon f or 5 0 squirmy minutes....

FRUITS, NUTS AND EIGHTH GRADE ALGEBRA

2008-09-16T22:59:57-04:00

My friend, Anthony Cody, who lives in Oakland and writes the marvelous “Living in Dialogue” blog for TEACHER magazine, posted a great piece on education in California today, chock full of juicy bits about ed policies and their outcomes in...

MR. HOLLAND TEACHES ME A LESSON

2008-09-09T13:33:26-04:00

I started this blog several days ago, after watching a YouTube video on the non-existence of learning styles. On the way to telling the story of my own pedagogical epiphanies as a long-time music teacher, I tried to set the...

AUDIO-VISUAL CLUB MEETS AGAIN: IMPORTANT AGENDA

2008-09-07T20:56:35-04:00

Imagine my pleasure and surprise to find both Sherman Dorn and Dan Willingham posting comments on the “Learning Styles” blog at TIASL. I have a kind of crush of Sherman Dorn (in a remote, scholarly way, of course). He’s never...