The New John C

Over the past few years when we've gone on vacation we've often chosen locations good for hiking.  Spring break was last month, and, true to form, we visited the southern California desert, specifically the area around Joshua Tree National Park. One day we decided to hike up one of the medium-size mountains in the area, Mt. Ryan.  The summit overlooks Palm Springs, but the hike to the summit goes through a fairly remote part of the national park that doesn't see a lot of foot traffic.  It seems like cell phone service is everywhere these days, but there wouldn't be any here. We're always on the lookout for wildlife when we hike, and in this part of the world there are scorpions, rattlesnakes, birds, deer, mountain lions, several kinds of rabbits, and even big horn sheep to name just a few.  In fact, the day before we were driving through a residential neighborhood just outside the park and saw a couple coyotes cruising along the streets.  They weren't up to ...

At the beginning of Chapter 9 Randy Bomer states that "compared to most people, I am a facile writer and spend a lot of time doing it."  I don't doubt this statement at all.  I wish I was a facile writer, too.  As a teacher it is important that I foster this in my students.  I'm focused on the Social Studies at a secondary school level, and to be candid I'm not overly interested in my students simply remembering the dates of historical events or places on a map.  I want my students to be able to think about what they are learning, and reflect on how a current or historical event affects them and others. As part of this process the idea of using writing as a thinking tool makes great sense. Chapter 11 delves into some different approaches for teaching about how to write to think. My favorite approach is the first one listed, "Accepting What Comes."  In this blog post we have been asked to avoid direct quoting, but I am especially struck by what Wi...