Amazing holiday travel experiences, followed by extended recovery from jet lag and a nasty cold I picked up, have kept me from blogging for all of January, but now I am well and ready to express my random thoughts again. Most of my thoughts right now are ones of hopeful optimism. It's a new year … Continue reading It’s 2016!
Author: erikamaren
How Genealogy Debunks Myths About History, #1: Marriage
My explorations in genealogy have led me to question a lot of conventional wisdom about the lives of people in earlier eras. One of the assumptions I had was that until fairly recently, most people married before age 30. There might have been the occasional confirmed bachelor or spinster aunt, but they were unusual. In … Continue reading How Genealogy Debunks Myths About History, #1: Marriage
What Teach For America Could Learn From Peace Corps
In 1993, when I was a shiny new Harvard grad with no career direction except a fervent desire to help people, I joined Teach For America (TFA). It was a brand new organization then, modeled at least in part after the Peace Corps. The plan was to send smart, idealistic, young people to teach for … Continue reading What Teach For America Could Learn From Peace Corps
Yes, Mr. President, Tests Must Be “Worth Taking”
I am glad President Obama has admitted that there is too much standardized testing in our public schools. He has produced a "Testing Action Plan" to address this issue. He wants our testing policies to be smarter, and he and his advisors have come up with a set of guiding principles to that end. Every … Continue reading Yes, Mr. President, Tests Must Be “Worth Taking”
Data is not a thing.
Many supposedly highly educated people do not understand data. They use it all the time, rely on it, even revere it to a level that approximates worship, but since they don’t understand it, it becomes merely fuel for confirmation bias. Any study that tells them what they want to hear is “hard data”, and any … Continue reading Data is not a thing.
Watch Longmire!
Everyone who appreciates good storytelling should watch Longmire, now on Netflix. It is a magnificent show, one of my absolute favorites. I was devastated when A&E cancelled it after three seasons, and thrilled when Netflix picked it up. The fourth season is currently available on Netflix, along with the first three, and fans are having … Continue reading Watch Longmire!
Genealogy Personalizes History
I love history. I have even made my living as a history teacher, but until I finished high school I thought I hated the whole subject. That was because my history teachers made it incredibly boring. It wasn't entirely their fault. They taught it the same boring way they were taught, which is also the … Continue reading Genealogy Personalizes History
If You Care About Education Reform, You Must Read The Prize
No matter where you stand in the current education chaos, Dale Russakoff’s The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools? is worth reading. It is outstanding writing based on outstanding reporting, and it is the best explanation I have seen of the complexities of public education in the United States. My favorite quotation in the … Continue reading If You Care About Education Reform, You Must Read The Prize
Guiding Principles on Teaching, Learning, and Reform
I almost always agree with things Larry Cuban says about education. This post of his seems especially worth sharing, so I am reblogging it in full.
It’s Way Too Early to Choose a Candidate
I keep getting emails asking me to support various presidential candidates. It seems insane to me that campaigns are already in full force more than a year before the election. I refuse to choose a candidate this far in advance. The reason they are already campaigning is that they have to raise so much money. … Continue reading It’s Way Too Early to Choose a Candidate
E. Steiger & Co. 
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