“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 […]
Dr. Delvecchio and I just finished day #2 with our new freshmen historians. We’re also on day #2 of a bit of an experiment this year. Instead of following the well-worn path of the traditional European history survey, we’re revamping the curriculum by creating thematic units that invite students to connect a “moment” in European […]
It’s been so good to be back in the classroom with curious and bright minds. Over the last two weeks, there have been a gaggle of moments when I’ve been impressed and startled by my students’ insights. Yesterday in European History, the tenth-graders and I were wrapping up a unit on European imperialism in Africa […]
You never know where you’ll run into Thacher students. I attended the 5th annual Ojai Youthfest at Libbey Park with my daughters, Annika and Christina, this past Sunday. After the girls competed in the 4th grade health and nutrition trivia contest and while they were waiting for their turn on the trampoline, I wandered around to […]
“Putting on a musical has gotta be the most fulfilling thing a person could ever hope to do.” A line from Detective Cioffi, the leading character in this year’s winter musical, Curtains, which debuted last weekend in the Milligan Center of the Performing Arts. Perhaps if you read my previous post, you may have gathered […]
The power of imagination appeared evident this Sunday, as the cast and crew gathered to strike the set of the fall production, Six Degrees of Separation. How disheartening it seemed that so much work could go into this creation, only to be taken apart in a few hours. And so it appeared that once the […]
As I continue to reflect upon and make sense of the recent week-long Thacher trip to Japan and China, I’ve thought a great deal about why so many Chinese students want to study in the US. Recent articles in the New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education, along with a story on NPR, document […]