Planning for Fall 2020

Schools are releasing their reopening plans, and the national discussion seems to have shifted its focus towards whether or not schools should reopen. As a teacher, I certainly have thoughts about how wise it may or may not be to reopen, but I also try to remind myself of these facts: We do not have …

Anti-racism resources

Throughout the month of June 2020, following the death of George Floyd from police brutality and amid the accompanying global outcry, many calls to action, articles, and resources encouraging inclusion and antiracism flooded the internet and social media--almost too many to sift through at once. I've made my way through some of the resources that …

Un-whitewashing Antiquity

As I have transitioned from college to middle/high school teaching, there are a larger percentage of students of color in my 7-12 Latin classroom than I taught in a college setting. While I have always wanted my classroom to be as inclusive as possible, this contrast made me want to be even more inclusive. I …

Pictures to encourage inclusivity and self-efficacy

Before the school year started, I was meeting with a small group of teachers who would be offering guidance for our school's advisory program. In one of these discussion, a colleague mentioned something he had learned at the National Association of Independent Schools' People of Color Conference: one of the best things to do for …

Latin Battleship

On teacherspayteachers.com, I found a wonderful game: Latin Battleship. In this version, students guessed spaces on the board by conjugating verbs or declining nouns. It's a great, fun way to review forms. The template is blank so you can create reviews for anything you want, but I learned that 4th declension nouns do not work …

The homework myth?

This past school year, I cut back on the amount of homework that I was assigning to accommodate some students who were taking more time to do the homework than I anticipated. At the end of the year, I was also realized just how little free time students have at home, given homework, sports, and …

Weimer, Learner-Centered Teaching

I love that my school is making a push to have a more learner-centered learning experience for our students. As part of this, English and History classes frequently use the Harkness method and the year before I arrived at the school, a group of teachers did a book study of Dr. Maryellen Weimer's Learner-Centered Teaching: Five …

Towards a more inclusive, safer space in Latin and Classics classes

This past school year, I struggled to include as much about ancient Roman culture and history as I would have liked. When I did include elements of Roman culture, my thoughts were often guided by my earlier reflections about Classics as a field. During the 2016-17 school year, especially as a result of teaching modern …

Ulrich Boser’s Learn Better

One of the great things at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville is that, each year, teachers can meet as a book club to discuss a book about education, learning, and teaching. This year, I was happy to be a part of the book study of Ulrich Boser's Learn Better about the process of learning and what …

Memory

One of my students has asked me about better ways to remember and memorize things for Latin, so I decided to look more into the neuroscience of memory. Thankfully, in 1996, Daniel Schacter published Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past, which summarizes some research. While it is a little over 20 …