Finding Space for Learning

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.” 

Adjusting the Climate of the Classroom

The Thermostat Episode  

Poem: Section 106 from Tennyson’s In Memoriam 

Statement of the Whole: 

Every classroom has its own unique temperature or climate.  What determines how that classroom feels?  Given that each student is unique, is it even possible to form a specific climate in the room, or will everyone perceive it differently?  What kinds of things go into classroom climate formation?  Jason and Steve discuss their own classrooms and their assessment of these and many other questions.  This discussion should apply to any classroom (home or school) at any age level. 

Resources: 

  • Gibbs, Joshua.  Something They Will Not Forget: A Handbook for Classical Teachers. Circe Instititue, 1 July 2019. 
  • Hicks, David V. Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education. University Press of America, 30 Sept. 1999. 
  • Palmer, Parker.  The Courage to Teach.  Jossey-Bass, 1998.  
  • Taylor, James.  Poetic Knowledge: the Recovery of Education. SUNY, 1998.