Rethink Learning Now

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...

My learning story is also about teaching. After spending some years teaching high school English, I took a break to raise my two babies. During my pregnancies, I rediscovered and rededicated myself to my yoga practice. Yoga was one of those things that didn't come naturally to me but that I loved somehow, and pre-natal classes allowed for a gentle, welcoming reintroduction. After giving birth to two babies in two years, I found myself back on the mat. One of my teachers, Anna...

I still remember every book I was asked to read for Dr. Tom Nolen's class, "The One and the Many." It was my first semester at Northern Arizona University. I entered the classroom curious -- but also defined. Raised a devout and conservative Christian, I had helped my family start a church and began giving sermons when I was 14. At 16, my charisma and speaking gifts had me sharing a sermon about every other month with a congregation of 260 people. I was the student...

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...