A glimpse inside Hillsdale College's network of classical schools across the country.
Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana (Lingua Latina) is a Latin textbook published by a Danish man, Hans Henning Orberg, first in 1955 and then revised in 1990. The text is designed for fast paced instruction where, like modern foreign language teaching methods, Latin must be spoken as much as possible in class. This approach, therefore, is meant to discipline students to develop the skill of reading and speaking the language quickly.…
I often catch myself thinking that if I just make it through this day or until that break, then I’ll get a chance to catch my breath. Despite my hopes, the next week is almost always full of its own new challenges and problems that I could not or did not anticipate. The following is a list of five truths and their corresponding disciplines that help me teach well when I realize that next week isn’t going to slow down. …
How do I draw a dog that looks real? As young aspiring artists, students often ask questions like this because they measure their success and growth in art based on how real they can make something look. Recently, my seventh-grade students discovered that artists possess many tools to draw the viewer in and gain appreciation for their art. And, these strategies can be much more powerful and exciting than realism. …
In a recent Second Grade class period, I was teaching the American folk song “Buffalo Gals.” Many of the students were familiar with it through its use in the well-known film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and I worked very hard to emphasize the fact that this song has endured for a few generations. It is a song that has endured, as most folk songs do, not merely because the tune captures your ear, but because it captures a little piece of humanity. …
Wilfred M. McClay’s Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story is the recommended student text for the eleventh-grade American history course. The text tells the story of America through a compelling narrative that appears and reads more like a novel than a textbook. McClay, himself, in his “Introduction” acknowledges the objective of his writing is “to offer to American readers, young and old alike, an accurate, responsible, coherent, persuasive, and inspiring narrative account of their own country – an account that will inform and deepen their sense of the land they inhibit and equip them for the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.” …
I have always loved reading books. Ever since I was a child, books felt like a magical object that, when opened, would invite me into a vivid other world where I could do and be things I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. The feeling of finishing a book and ending my time in that other world always filled me with acute sadness.…
Watching a video of yourself teaching is simultaneously painful and illuminating. While you continually cringe at your every movement and the sound of your own voice, you are also given the opportunity to honestly and objectively observe your practice. Having gone through this many times in my teaching career, I can say with confidence that the pain is worth it. Every time I watch myself teach, I learn about a way that I can improve my practice. …
Classical educators endeavor to lead students to think and learn for themselves by instructing them in the essential tools of learning. Through Socratic discussion and layers of questioning, teachers prime students for the type of inquiry that ultimately allows students to discover for themselves and make decisions that align with what is good and beautiful.
As an art teacher, I feel a particular calling to contribute to this mission in the art classroom.…