It’s long past time that I describe an extended experiment in group learning conducted over the last few years. The setting was Christ Church Episcopal in Portola Valley, California, where my spouse and I were Scholars in Residence, conducting seminars … Continue reading
By Sheldon Over the weekend I ran across a very interesting interview with Noam Chomsky on the future of democracy and education in the 21st century. Chomsky is one of America’s leading intellectuals, but on matters of education he … Continue reading
For along time I’ve noticed that I seem to do better writing when at least some fraction of the work is done on paper with a pen or pencil. I particularly like using a nice rollerball pen or, better still, a fountain pen.
Continue readingI’ve recently begun taking a class at nearby Foothill Community College in an effort to gain some mastery over mathematics. It’s an old, old project of mine. Ostensibly I’m at school for the same reason most of the other students … Continue reading
Yesterday’s Editorial Observer column of the New York Times carried an interesting and through-provoking piece by Verlyn Klinkenborg on “Some Thoughts on the Lost Art of Reading Aloud.” In it Klinkenborg compares the growing popularity of audio books with the … Continue reading
Note: I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the role of mentors in one’s educational development and remembered the following essay I wrote for the Virtual Conference in Informal Science Education, sponsored by the Society for Amateur Scientists in … Continue reading
A view from the balcony of the Exploratorium on Pi Day. Photo by the author. Last Saturday we accompanied some friends of ours on a trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Many, many years ago the science show Nova … Continue reading
Elsewhere I have written about the power of projects. There is no educational experience that quite matches making an example of what you are studying, or even a model of it. But the experience of building or making something goes … Continue reading
Get some educators or instructors into a room and before long you will get an earful about good teaching practices, pedagogy, learning, and so forth. You’ll hear all the latest info about how best to get kids to pay attention, … Continue reading
Every other week or so my spouse and I meet with some friends for dinner and conversation, usually at a favorite Chinese restaurant where we enjoy stimulating banter over excellent cuisine. An evening’s dinner conversation recently turned to the matter … Continue reading