Category Archives: Upper School

1st Post, Self-Study, Upper School, World Languages

The Role of Writing in the Process of Learning a Foreign Language

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Writing and teaching have always been the main drivers of my identity. Doing both at the same time has been, in one way or another, a recurring theme in my life. That is why for my self-study I’ve chosen to focus on how my own experience as a writer has impacted my teaching career throughout the years, making me develop a language program that uses writing as a central component of the practice and acquisition of a foreign tongue.  

Continue reading The Role of Writing in the Process of Learning a Foreign Language →

Anti-bias Curriculum, Arts & Humanities, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

Self-Study During the Pandemic

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When I started my second attempt at the self-study my initial idea was that I would focus on making sure I didn’t become a “dinosaur”. A dinosaur in this context meant faculty member and teacher who was wed to the way he/she has always done things. I was going to re-examine my habits as a teacher and a learner. Continue reading Self-Study During the Pandemic →

Anti-bias Curriculum, Humanities, Lower School, Middle School, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

The Problems of Unexamined Normative Assumptions

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Essential Questions:

  • How do we teach students to see historical events through multiple perspectives?
  • How does changing the “voice” of the class materials challenge stereotypes about non-Western civilizations and cultures?
  • How do we teach students to value the achievements of civilizations that are not their (or our) own or that have traditionally been seen through a deficit lens?
  • How can highlighting examples of interactions between oppressed and dominant groups throughout history reveal injustices that affect our students’ lives?

Continue reading The Problems of Unexamined Normative Assumptions →

Art, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

Art for Art’s Sake & The Work of Obligation

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My Self-Study plan and goals were firmly entrenched in pushing myself to find the time, strength, intellectual curiosity and courage to produce – in my initial post I bolded and all-capsed for emphasis – A LOT of work. The plan was to work fearlessly and without concern for quality. Not only would I produce a bunch of work, but I would also share the results. The work would be without a specific purpose other than “art for art’s sake”. Finally, I swore to experiment with oil paint – a medium all around me that I have barely ever used.

Continue reading Art for Art’s Sake & The Work of Obligation →

Arts & Humanities, Humanities, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

In the Pit: On Writing and Revision

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The goal of my self study is to refocus my creative practice by completing work on two screenplay rewrites and to start production on a personal documentary film. While the rewrites have been going well, I won’t be able to do any work on the documentary due to unforeseen travel restrictions. 

Continue reading In the Pit: On Writing and Revision →

Anti-bias Curriculum, Upper School

Affirming Perspective /Challenging Stereotypes: Decentering whiteness in 9th grade history

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Essential Questions:

  • How do we teach students to see historical events through multiple perspectives?
  • How does changing the “voice” of the class materials challenge stereotypes about non-Western civilizations and cultures?
  • How do we teach students to value the achievements of civilizations that are not their (or our) own or that have traditionally been seen through a deficit lens?
  • How can highlighting examples of interactions between oppressed and dominant groups throughout history reveal injustices that affect our students’ lives?

Continue reading Affirming Perspective /Challenging Stereotypes: Decentering whiteness in 9th grade history →

Anti-bias Curriculum, Upper School

Affirming Perspective /Challenging Stereotypes: Decentering whiteness in 9th grade history

1 Comment

Essential Questions:

  • How do we teach students to see historical events through multiple perspectives?
  • How does changing the “voice” of the class materials challenge stereotypes about non-Western civilizations and cultures?
  • How do we teach students to value the achievements of civilizations that are not their (or our) own or that have traditionally been seen through a deficit lens?
  • How can highlighting examples of interactions between oppressed and dominant groups throughout history reveal injustices that affect our students’ lives?

Continue reading Affirming Perspective /Challenging Stereotypes: Decentering whiteness in 9th grade history →

Anti-bias Curriculum, Upper School

Values and Beliefs about Doing Science and Science Class

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Essential Questions:

  • If we want students to learn to do the work of scientists, not just learn about science, how can that be done without recreating within our classrooms the culture that currently exists in science outside of our school?
  • If the past 500 years of science had been created by everyone, what values and beliefs would we hold about science? And if we want to do something about that now, what values and beliefs should we aspire to hold in our classroom?
  • What routines, activities, and systems of feedback are necessary to create a culture of science that is built by and for everyone and that can be carried beyond a single classroom?
  • How do we help students align their actions with their values in science class?

Continue reading Values and Beliefs about Doing Science and Science Class →

1st Post, Art, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

Creative Practice

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For my self study, I’ve chosen to  refocus on my own creative practice. During the self-discovery phase, I explored my passion for endurance sports — swimming, running and cycling — specifically. What I’ve learned, and what I teach my students, is that writing and producing films requires the same training, diligence and most of all, persistence as running a marathon, or finishing a hundred mile bike race. In my self-study, I plan to complete a re-write on a feature screenplay and work on production on a short personal documentary film. I hope to complete both projects, but will, at the very least, complete one of them. Continue reading Creative Practice →

1st Post, Humanities, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

Staying Relevant

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As a teacher with almost 30 years on the job, I worry that I will “fall behind”. I am concerned that my habits, practices, and perspectives are no longer relevant/effective. Students are now swimming in a different sea. Understandings of race, gender and privilege have all evolved and in some way been transformed. Social media has changed not only how students communicate, but also how they interact with the world. Since I’m not retiring soon, I have to find ways to avoid becoming the faculty dinosaur while at the same time preserving some of the reasons why I chose to become a teacher. Continue reading Staying Relevant →

1st Post, Athletics/PE, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

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The focus of my self-study will be to increase my physical fitness, put plainly “to get back in shape”, documenting my work with a training log in the style that I hope my students will use, and reflecting on the process with the self-study process. Healing and preparing my body for the next 10 years of teaching and coaching was the initial idea, but I think that branching out into sports or races that I have little experience in, and forcing myself to compete in them would be helpful to the empathy that I hope to build through this process.  Continue reading Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable →

1st Post, Art, Professional Development, Self-Study, Upper School

Opening Up to Artistic Freedom

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Over the course of this self-study – and ideally beyond – I hope to push myself outside of my comfort zone and into areas of artistic practice and expression that have hitherto felt daunting or unattainable. I want to be able to apply the expectations I place on my students to myself with regards to my own practice as an artist. I want to generate work, A LOT of work and be open to and OK with the fact that much of it won’t be good, or polished or finished. I want to work fast and with less control. Continue reading Opening Up to Artistic Freedom →