bsmylie's blog

Alfie Kohn

On Thursday night, at the Teacher’s Convention, I went to listen to Alfie Kohn speak on  the topic, “Testing, Grading and Homework- But why?”  Although he is an outspoken critic on topics ranging from parenting, to human behavior to education, his talk on Thursday was one I totally agree with.    He spoke primarily on educator’s fixation with homework.  Despite the absence of its value, teachers continue to pile it on and really don’t give much thought about why they give it.  Furthermore, negative effects of homework outweigh an

Escape from Jonestown

Last night I turned on CNN as I often do when nothing else is on TV, to watch Soledad O’Brien’s special on Escape from Jonestown.    Thirty years ago, out of the 1,000 members of that religious cult, only 33 lived to tell the painful story of what had happened. 

Syndicate content