A glimpse inside Hillsdale College's network of classical schools across the country.
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. …
Nobody argues that schools ought to teach Shakespeare because it helps students to write office memos. Yet many argue that schools ought to teach Pythagoras because it helps students to become engineers. While engineering and other STEM fields are certainly noble endeavors, would it not be a shame to say that any student who becomes a lawyer, librarian, poet, or plumber cannot benefit from a mathematics education?…
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.…
This post is a follow-up to my recent post: The Case for Mini Whiteboards. If you have not read that post, I recommend you do so, as it lays out an argument in favor of the use of mini whiteboards in the classical classroom. This post will discuss the procedures, routines, and general advice that will allow you, the teacher, to get the most out of mini whiteboards in your classroom. …