Tag Archives: education

Finding Space for Learning

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Poem: “How to Be a Poet” by Wendell Berry 

Statement of the Whole: How do you find the right environment that promotes good learning?  Is there just one type of such place?  Does the place learning occurs matter any more or less than what is learned?  The Backporch boys pursue these questions and others in an extended meditation on the poem they begin the episode with.  As Berry put it, “Accept what comes from silence. Make the best you can of it.   Of the little words that come out of the silence, like prayers prayed back to the one who prays, make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came.” 

Christmas Carols

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Our Annual Incarnation Special 

Poem: none (the whole thing is about Christmas lyrics, which are afterall, poems) 

Statement of the Whole:   What does singing Christmas songs have to do with education?  A lot and very little.  Jason and Steve think it has more to do with good learning than the opposite.  They hum their way through various favorites from the Yuletide season and discuss their own views on how the Incarnation, and singing about such, is an important aspect of meditating on education.  At the end you will wish to bring them some figgy pudding. 

Pedagogical Scaffolding vs. Handholding

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Poem: The Glove and the Lions, Leigh Hunt 

Statement of the Whole: Where is the line between scaffolding and handholding? Educators build steps of mastery into their curricula, but doing so well (like our awesome guest, Tim Kemper!) requires being able to perceive students’ abilities. Too much scaffolding can turn into handholding, which also has its place. In this episode, Tim and Jason converse about when each tactic ought to be employed as we aid our students in their growth.  

How Do You Teach Several Students at Once?

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Poem:  none 

Statement of the Whole: This question, from a listener, has elements of several issues in it.  What do we do when we have multiple students learning in a given classroom with differing levels of performance and ability?  And what do we do, especially in home education, when we have differing ages and levels of maturity in the same context?  Jason and Steve consider all this and more on this episode from the Backporch. 

Estimating Your Student Rightly

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Poem:  Leaves Compared With Flowers, by Robert Frost 

Statement of the Whole: Expectations come from our estimate of what a student should be able to do.  How do we avoid either over or under estimating our students?  Jason and Steve respond to this question from a listener.  Join in the discussion of how low or high the bar should be set. 

The Joy of Choice in Home Education?

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Poem:  Introduction to Poetry, By Billy Collins 

Statement of the Whole: Some folk copy the state school curriculum and just teach at home.  Some call almost any activity a part of the curriculum.  One of the great joys of home educating is the freedom to choose what is right for your child.  Jason and Steve tease out the happy medium in home education between a draconian curriculum and none at all.  Can curriculum come out and play? 

How to Do College the Cambridge Way

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Peterhouse College, Cambridge University

 

An Interview with Josie Parker 

Josey Parker

Poem:  “Inside of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge,” by William Wordsworth 

Statement of the Whole: What is the modern college experience?  Are all colleges and universities working off the same basic plan?  Why do colleges in Europe seem so different?  In this episode, Steve interviews Josey Parker, who is a graduate of England’s Cambridge University and now pursuing her Masters there.  They discuss how the U.S. and Europe forms of higher education are alike and are different.  And in doing so, shed some light on the higher purposes of attending college in the first place. 

Notes: 

Cambridge Website: How the University of Cambridge Works 

How to Have a Great First Month of School

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The panic before school episode 

Poem: Interrogative by Sister M. Therese 

Statement of the Whole: As soon as summer starts, the clock starts clicking loudly.  What do good teachers do with their summers?  How do you start a new school year off better than ever before?  Jason and Steve dig into what makes the first month of school so special and important on this “Back to School Special” episode of the Backporch Education podcast. 

What Can We Learn from the History of Education?

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Poem: Choruses from the Rock VI, by T.S. Eliot 

Statement of the Whole: Steve and Jason look at the last 250 years of education in America in a brief survey format.  Gleaning a few lessons only whets the appetite to dig in deeper.  Join them for this quick flight through the fancies of American education and where all the past might be taking us in the future.  

Notes: 

Coming soon: Steve’s full presentation of A History of Education in America.  A series of monologues in which Steve outlines the history of education in America and traces the roots of where we are today.  This will be available behind our paywall soon, once we open up our shop, The Sideporch. 

Black·board /ˈblakbôrd/ noun.  a large board with a smooth, typically dark, surface attached to a wall or supported on an easel and used for writing on with chalk, especially by teachers in schools. 

Books mentioned: 

Marrou, Henri Irenee. A History of Education in Antiquity. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1982. 

Ravitch, Diane. Left Back: A Century of Battles over School Reform. Touchstone, 2001. 

The Joys of Research

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Poem: Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room, by William Wordsworth  

Statement of the Whole: Research this!  The dust clouds billow up and the sneezing begins.  Most students unfortunately have been taught to despise the task of research.  Jason and Steve beg to differ, viewing it as inquiry into the unknown, the natural result of wonder and questing for truth.  Join them for some thoughts on how to turn this task into a life-long pursuit.  No Googling going on here! 

Resources: 

TED on procrastination 

Help with Boontling