Big Thoughts About Schools, Teaching, and Learning
The very first book I completed this year was The Little Book of Hygge by Danish author Meik Wiking. Hygge (sort of pronounced as a gutteral hoo-guh), is an essential Danish word that encompasses the feelings of warmth, safety, and well-being. The author describes hygge as both a noun and an adjective, and hygge involves …
We all know that teenagers have shifted sleep schedules. This is not news. What would be news is if any school districts made the move to radically reform the school day around said sleep schedules. So here’s my radical rogue proposal: What if we held sports practice and other extracurriculars in the morning, say 9:00-11:00 …
This weekend I have the immense privilege of escaping to a quaint historic town outside my new city for two nights of good sleep, reading, and working on aspirations outside of motherhood. I have a wonderful husband who is confident with the kids and I have no worries. I realize this scenario won’t work for …
Hello! Welcome to more of Mrs. Crews’s radical ideas to make school relevant. The biggest problem I observe while in schools is the complete disengagement of older high schoolers because their academic schedule, which has basically just been handed to them to execute, has become increasingly disconnected from their real life. Many of these students …
Coming in at an epic 153 minutes, The Greatest Show on Earth tells the fantastic story of the circus. The film stars Charton Heston, because obviously. Does the man star in anything under 2.5 hours? Also, I must remember that in 1952, audiences generally had a longer attention span. This film combined voiceover documentary storytelling with scenes of realistic …
We’re healing education one brainstorm at a time. In small-group based learning, students in high school are assigned a mentor teacher and a small group of 10-12 other students in the same grade who stay together all four years, or maybe three years if ninth grade were dropped back to junior high. Each morning, the …
Good morning and happy Saturday teacher-friends! Today I want to share with you a love of tea I discovered while teaching and pregnant with my daughter. I’m a pretty hard-core coffee drinker, but in the twilight-zone that is pregnancy, I suddenly found coffee gross. Not only that, but I wanted to eat things like lumber. …
Last week I proposed the Block Schedule. This week we’re discussing the Year-Round Schedule which would pair quite well with the Block Schedule. Year-Round school is just as it sounds. Students attend school year-round with several mini-breaks scattered throughout instead of one long 2+ month break in the summer. This proposed schedule solves several issues. …
What a strange story. An American in Paris is a musical starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. It is set to the music of George and Ira Gershwin. The film follows former GI Jerry Mulligan, an expat living in Paris trying to make a life as a painter, and his two friends Adam and Henri. Jerry (Gene Kelly) …
Recently, I shared my thoughts on Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gato. His biggest argument is that institutionalized schooling in the United States artificially extends childhood, creates a culture of consumption instead of production, and generally dumbs everyone down. And the longer I have subbed and taught, the more I agree with his thoughts. …
