An Exception Must Be Made for My Kid, and Hurry It Up

Mamacita says: Everybody on the basketball team is trying really, really hard. Some of them are displaying amazing skills, while others aren’t quite up to the same level of competence. Some of them can hit almost every basket; others on … Continue reading

Analogy: 2 Points for Every Player?

Mamacita says: Everybody on the basketball team is trying really, really hard. Some of them are displaying amazing skills, while others aren’t quite up to the same level of competence. Some of them can hit almost every basket; others on … Continue reading

I See Stupid People

  Mamacita says:  It worries me that so many of our students don’t have enough schema to make simple connections – at least, what were once considered simple connections. You know.  Those people, places, events, and stories that EVERYBODY knows? … Continue reading

To Literally Pinch a Loaf. . . .

Mamacita says:  I never hear the word “loaf” without remembering the last junior high dance I ever chaperoned.  I always loved to chaperone those little dances, even though we were not paid for doing so, unlike the teachers who worked … Continue reading

Standardization, Administration, & Other Bollocky Things

Mamacita says:  Beethoven and Rodin would never make it in an American public school these days. Neither would Lincoln, or Clara Barton, or Thomas Jefferson. Nor Einstein. Or Edison. Administrators have forgotten that ultimately, our culture will be judged on … Continue reading

Sometimes, I Hate What We've Turned Into

Mamacita says: December in an American public school classroom used to be so very, very special.  No matter what kind of families lived in the area, and no matter what a child’s family did about December at home, every child … Continue reading