Monthly Archives: June 2021

Vacuous Art

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Poem: “The Third Day” by Edith Lovejoy Pearce 

Statement of the Whole: Recently an Italian artist sold an “immaterial sculpture” for about $18,000 and the Backporch dudes let the fun begin.  Join them in a far-ranging discussion about this moment in art and education history.  Did he sell nothing or a “vacuum”?  Is this legit?  What did the buyer get?  The questions just keep coming, a perhaps the beginnings of some answers as well.  Pull up a chair and have fun with us. 

Margins in the Classroom

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Yet Another Farming Metaphor 

Poem: from “The Church Porch” by George Herbert 

When thou dost purpose aught, within thy power, Be sure to do it, though it be but small: Constancy knits the bones, and makes us stour / When wanton pleasures beckon us to thrall. Who breaks his own bond, forfeiteth himself: What nature made a ship, he makes a shelf. 

Statement of the Whole:  In agriculture, every farmer knows you need margins: spaces between your fields.  The carefully planted crop needs some wildness, some weeds, some room about it to flourish.  So goes the classroom as well.  In this episode, Jason and Steve walk out into the fields to see what can be learned about the margins of the classroom.  Put your boots on and come with us. 

What to do When a Student Does Not Get It

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Poem: “The Master Speed,” by Robert Frost 

Statement of the Whole:  Every teacher knows that moment when one or many students demonstrate that the lesson was not learned, or misunderstood, or missed.  What do we do when this happens?  What are the common causes for such?  What are strategies for our teaching that will help us in these murky waters?  Jason and Steve discuss such things in this episode.