It was a dizzying, brain-stuffing three days. Every April for the past twenty years, Senior Exhibitions have reminded me how curious Thacher students can be, how passionate, how persuasive. And this year, how much better than I they understand the basics of the Big Bang theory and the complexities of cult recruitment, government surveillance and […]
Blog Archives
What’s in a word?
Occasionally, misspellings actually please me–as in, make me laugh big.
Ap Gov’t Articles
This past week in my AP US government and politics class, we each wrote a political article, about any subject conceivably related to government or our political system. We spent a few class days and homework nights perfecting our articles until our teacher posted them on our class blog. But, the most exciting part was […]
World War I in the classroom, through the archives, and on stage
Students in the 10th Grade European history course recently wrapped up their study of World War I. The unit highlighted best practices in education including differentiated instruction and project based learning. Historical context for the unit was covered through classroom instruction and discussion, the analysis of primary sources, and readings in the text. However, students […]
Am I Still a Freshman?
Hello! I’m in my senior year and there is so much going on at Thacher. Seniors come back to campus slightly earlier in order to prepare as the upperclassmen and leaders of the school. We were all very excited. After camping, classes, sports, and clubs started up right away. Throughout one’s Thacher career, there is […]
Reunion
“OK, we need some dogs–specifically, ‘a wolfish troop of watchdogs.’” “Me! Me! I’ll be a dog!” “Me, too!” “OK, but the text is clear that you’ll have to fawn on Telemakhos when he arrives at the hut.” “What’s ‘fawn’?” That fawning might be a deal-breaker on my assigning roles for our acting out a scene […]
Decisive Moments…
As the U.S. Supreme Court convenes this week to hear oral arguments on a number of important issues, the History Department launched a new elective course titled “Decisive Moments in United States History.” The course is modeled after the popular Science and Society course offered in the Winter Trimester. It is being team taught by […]
18 Again
We get mocked in Southern California for our lack of seasons but those of us on Thacher’s campus this week know that while the change in seasons isn’t dramatic, there is such a thing as spring, and we all know it’s here. The mercury is rising, the California poppies are dancing, and even the Oak […]
Senior Moment
Fortuitous intersection: I discovered through my English IV Honors students that those of them in AP Psychology were studying Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory just as freshmen in English read the middle chapters of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. (In these pages, the young girl must find her way back to emotional and psychological wholeness after a brutal sexual assault.)
Simulation of the U.K. Parliament
Last night (Thursday, 14 December), the AP Comparative Government class participated in a simulation of a House of Commons debate in the fabulously refurbished Study Hall. The atmosphere was formal and even a bit unruly as the debate heated up; much like the actual House of Commons. Students researched their assigned party positions on four […]