Rethink Learning Now

It is with enormous gratitude that I write this heartfelt thanks and reflection to my Shinnyo-En family. When I was invited to attend their conference in Hawaii and the lantern floating ceremony, I almost didn't come, as I was so busy with work and felt that it would be irresponsible to take off -- without my family -- for a week. So, I talked to my husband about going, and he said, "You should do this...it's a gift and it's as important to accept them as give them." And...

This year was very unique and it was something that we did not expect. Sixth grade was a challenge to us, because of the academic responsibilities that our teachers and parents expected of us. We had to keep up with school work and homework for three different teachers and as the seniors of the school we weren't prepared for this drastic change and strict rules of the sixth grade. It was imperative that shirts were tucked in, having silent lunches, no recess, and we had to be...

Mr. Ward created a 60-member chorus and a 60-member marching band from a small high school student body in a DOD (Department of Defense) school in Berlin, Germany, during the days of the 'Cold War' - and he did so in only 4-5 years' time. Mr. Ward was from California, and for military kids who identified each other by the state they were from, California was considered a beacon of coolness. It didn't hurt that Mr. Ward had a handsome boyishness about him, either, although he was...

"To the world, you may only be one person, but to one person,you may be the whole world."

Never was this quote truer than for one little girl -- me. I attended six different elementary schools, moved twice during my junior high years and transferred into four different high schools. In the absence of extended family, my teachers became my mentors. In the absence of a busy social life, books became my friends -- and the CLASSROOM was my whole world.

...

Our mama taught us how to be simultaneously brave and pliant, and we found ourselves in this winning combination.

Mama Annie was my only teacher for much of my childhood. She home-schooled me through several formative years spent in Central Java, my father's birthplace. There I made note of the traditional preference that a woman not laugh too hard or be too assertive. There my peers were taught to wait, be patient, and to duck and look down when passing adult men.

In the fall of 2003, I started my junior year of high school with an 8th grade education level and a serious case of "broken home" syndrome. I was a high school drop out about to enroll in GED classes when fate stepped in and led me to Urban Academy.  

"Hi, are you a new student?...I'm teaching Short Shorts this semester. . . You should take it." 

His name was Alex White, and he was teaching a literature course about short...

Waking up to the smell of a delicious concoction of Chinese herbs, I realized I had just passed out in an acupuncture clinic. I slowly rise with the help of Mrs. Jane Shlensky, whose shocked face was turning into a bright smile. I mumble a few words then we both burst into laughing.

Mrs. Shlensky is by far the most effective teacher I have ever had in my 23 years of life. When I went off to boarding school my junior year in high school I was lost in the rigorous...

My organization, Playworks, started going national about six years ago, and our first expansion city was Baltimore. On our first exploratory visit, we took one of our coaches, Lamarr. In his late twenties at the...

Dear Mrs. Fortin, I was in your 4th grade class at Market Street School in 1975. I am currently enrolled in a Masters of Education Program at the University of Southern Maine and will graduate from the ETEP (Extended Teacher Education Program) program in May 2010. I was given the assignment of writing a letter to the best teacher I have ever had: Mrs. Dot Fortin I always felt safe and loved in your classroom. You had, and still have, such...