So, the photo’s not that great, but the content of it is worth its weight in gold. This is what I found when I walked into my classroom this morning. Not so impressive, you say. But, what it represents is the hard work of some community minded seniors (Lane, Bea, Rachel, Cooper, Olivia, and […]
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 […]
There’s an unmistakable buzz on campus during the run-up to Senior Exhibitions–the undercurrent invisible but powerfully felt, especially by those who’ll soon be behind the podium. This would be enough to tell the campus community that SrExes are fast approaching– but there’s more. Rehearsal sign-up sheets posted on doors rise and then fall back in […]
With our return to campus came the return to the Horse Program for a good many of our students. After riding our horses back from Pasture (an area on the other side of the valley) on Wednesday and getting out to the Gymkhana Field to practice our skills on Thursday and Friday, it was time […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.)
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 […]
Last week and this, English IV Honors: Turning Toward Home met for Thursday’s class in my living room. We move here when I feel that the seminar table in Room C is too vast an ocean of oak, when I sense the students are not connecting across it as powerfully as I want for them–and […]
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 […]