Our Souls

July 13, 2016 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Thomas Paine “Excuse me! Why did you antagonize my dogs?” I had… more »

The Heart of the Matter

March 23, 2016 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

The Celtic peoples…insisted that only the poets could be teachers. Why? I think it is because knowledge that is not… more »

#365

November 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

365 short posts–done. Now I go back and see if writing 365 posts fits with Ray Bradbury’s theory that you write… more »

Going on

November 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Steve Jobs said, “Things don’t have to change the world to be important.” In this past 364 day of continuously… more »

Start with School

November 3, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel… more »

Close up, it matters

November 1, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Education as the Practice of Freedom (bel hooks) I walk the hallways of schools and feel the urgency of young… more »

bel hooks, education, marge piercey, organize, practice of freedom

Safety

November 1, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel… more »

Restoration

November 1, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

What if after President Obama made his statement about too much testing, there were more statements following about the harm caused by… more »

The Real High Stakes Test

November 1, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Every day now I wonder what I would do for children if they were taken down by police in front… more »

Questions after Spring Valley

October 28, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I would imagine that anyone of us who works in school buildings has these questions somewhere in our minds and… more »

Don’t quit please

October 27, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Musing on Day 361 of my challenge to myself to write something of encouragement to stay in the field every… more »

Misnamed ‘political correctness?’

October 26, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Who decided to call being aware, empathetic, respectful is merely political and correct? By calling it ‘political correctness,’ we diminish… more »

Where do you go?

October 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

When you have to pause to cry or scream or vent or just breathe in silence so that you don’t do… more »

Teacher Memes

October 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Great quotes w/ pictures–painfully funny. Enough for one every school day for 12 weeks–to get you through January or… more »

Walk this Way

October 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“Our own life has to be our message.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to… more »

When the phone rings

October 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Thich Nhat Hanh the Vietnamese Zen Monk urges us to find ways to breathe in silence even for a second throughout… more »

What kids want to learn

October 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

When a teacher asked high school seniors to voice what they still wanted to learn that they hadn’t yet been… more »

Kids as Self Advocates

October 22, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

http://ipswich.wickedlocal.com/article/20140529/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/140525758/12423/NEWS/?Start=1 They’re waiting for a response. Ipswich 6th graders calculate a rebellion  Posted May. 29, 2014 at 4:16 PM… more »

Through Students’ Eyes

October 19, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

When I feel steamrolled by obstacles, I try to go back to the base of what we’re doing, which lies with… more »

Silence

October 19, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Sometimes silence makes sense until words and thoughts become coherent. more »

Action plans

October 18, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“It is…advisable that the teacher should understand, and even be able to criticize, the general principles upon which the whole… more »

“Full Circle Activism”

October 16, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Would we dare try in this age of fear for our jobs? Gloria Steinem in an interview 20 years ago in… more »

Say it

October 16, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

When I feel like my words matter least in the face of overwhelming odds against justice, perhaps that is when… more »

Journey for Justice Alliance

October 14, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Activism around the country includes many brilliant dedicated people who inspire courage and encouragement if we start to flag. Journey for… more »

If they knew……

October 13, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I had a chance conversation with a criminal defense lawyer today. At one point the conversation drifted into the place where… more »

Gloria Steinem on Burnout

October 12, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

In a 1995 interview in Mother Jones magazine, Gloria Steinem proposed a way to avoid burnout that I think we… more »

Where do they go?

October 12, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Every time I see another heartbreaking headline like a most recent article in The Washington Post that is popping up… more »

Duncan’s kids’ school

October 11, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

The school that Arne Duncan chooses and President Obama chose (when living in Chicago) for their own children? University of Chicago Lab… more »

Activism

October 9, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

If we achieved current mandate that every child will graduate career or college ready, we would have a different society. If the… more »

For fun and fury

October 8, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

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Words from Ancient Times

October 8, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and… more »

Others’ words

October 8, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have… more »

Opportunity and Purpose

October 6, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

How do we find the possibilities in our students when they haven’t had opportunities to develop their potential or vision… more »

RIP American Revolutionary

October 5, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“I feel sorry for people who don’t live in Detroit.” Grace Lee Boggs. The Detroit Free Press article about her passing today at… more »

Believe in your purpose

October 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Purpose By Robert Herrick (1016) No wrath of men, or rage of seas, Can shake a just man’s purposes; No… more »

What do we teach our children about safety?

October 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor’s wall is ablaze. Horace No matter how many locked doors, lockdown… more »

Who you are

October 3, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Don’t let the moments you have to comply or stay silent make you forget what you believe, the gifts you… more »

Magic

October 1, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Some days I walk through classrooms where there is magic—30 teenagers engaged in thinking about complex issues that are ultimately… more »

What works

September 30, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

From a distance, education can be conceived of as a series of simplified measurable goals achieved through one kind of… more »

Math Love

September 30, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“Multicultural education, and all good teaching, is about transformation – individual, collective, and institutional. Each of these levels is needed… more »

Success Analysis

September 28, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Imagine teachers walking into a faculty meeting or professional development workshop and instead of being told all they need to… more »

Powerful Teacher

September 28, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Almost every student teacher and new teacher name their first concern as ‘classroom management.’ In the last few years, another… more »

Calls to action

September 26, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

The question I ponder as I witness what we can still do that is good for kids in the face of… more »

Pick a quote

September 26, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

While there have been possible signs of hope the last few days, there are as many or more signs of… more »

Connect the Disconnected

September 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

How my time at a “failing” high school blew me away Journalist Kristina Rizga spent 4 years at SF’s Mission… more »

One Wisdom?

September 23, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

My youngest son’s progressive experiential public elementary school was divided into two parts: a bilingual program for native and non-native… more »

Placeholder, Pace, Purpose, Possibilities

September 23, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

4 P’s. Too overwhelmed to organize words and yet there is no way to stop thinking. Direction, action, words… …..find… more »

Teacher as Poet

September 20, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I am struck by how important storytelling is among tribal peoples; it forms the basis of their educational systems. The… more »

Tell the Truth

September 20, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell “Hard times arouse an… more »

Send a note

September 18, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Send a note to at least one of the best people you know who may be suffering, not valued, not heard—offer… more »

A Serious Question

September 17, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“You have to be pretty strong to say this is what I want to do. It’s felt like we were… more »

Play with the Pain

September 16, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

There is a pain and sadness among many of us in education as the possibilities we dream of for for… more »

Global

September 16, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Zach Serrano’s high school students created character profiles of global leaders in terms of the mind, heart/spirit and action. Reminds… more »

Lift every voice

September 14, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“The words of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” echoed down Drexel Ave on Chicago’s South Side the… more »

Sweet New Year

September 13, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

For the new year in the Jewish calendar, eat honey so you may have sweetness in your new year. Let go of… more »

Theory: Spiral of Silence

September 12, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann, a German political scientist (1916-2010) developed a model to explain people’s silence when they believe their view is… more »

“Primacy of Feeling”

September 12, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Quartz’s Law of The Primacy of Feeling: In everyday life, one’s anticipated emotions regarding a decision is a better guide than… more »

Traveler, There is no path

September 11, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all? “…thought it was important to always remember… more »

Do Something

September 11, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“Unlike a lot of people, I don’t feel powerless. I know I can do something. But anyone can do something,… more »

Stop Diagnosing

September 8, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Start seeing: For a minute, consider the student who makes life difficult in the classroom. Consider if you can look… more »

Attitude

September 7, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Attitude Check A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being… more »

A True Romantic

September 7, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“He was one of the true romantics left in education.” Dave Green in his post, ONE OF THE LAST GREAT… more »

Advice

September 5, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“I must learn to love the fool in me – the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes… more »

Magic in Court

September 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Something magical happened in the Washington State Supreme Court as the result of a carefully researched and articulated suit brought… more »

Mis-takes

September 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

In a system that reduces our goals for students to numbers and makes decisions without regard to impact on human… more »

Humble: trying to make sense of it

September 2, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

” We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. We… more »

Dedicated

September 2, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

The teachers in Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvania have voted (a second time) to continue to work though their financially distressed… more »

What is lost

August 31, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I look at many of our students and I see threads of their people’s past still living in them, through… more »

Significant though small

August 31, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

One way to think of the opportunity we have in our classrooms and school buildings through experiential education—beyond information,content, skills… more »

When if not now?

August 29, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Chicago School Board Warns Principal LaRiviere When do you decide you won’t go along anymore? Where is your line in… more »

Fall in love

August 28, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

When student teachers are nervous about their first time ‘in front of the whole class,’ I tell them, “Charles… more »

Aspire

August 28, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Show this to anyone who expresses doubts about the possibilities inside our students from financially struggling immigrant groups and the role… more »

Oh Data

August 26, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“Data, after all, is a tool —it’s up to informed human beings, who understand context, to make sense of it….The… more »

Love (again)

August 26, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and… more »

Enjoy

August 24, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

In the beginning everything is possible. Variation in when schools in different parts of the country, different districts, even within… more »

Chinese Proverbs for our times

August 23, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Sometimes I wonder if we have discovered any new wisdom or really only rediscovered for ourselves. And so, we are… more »

Human Struggle & Stamina

August 23, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I have been hitting the same walls of how people with power are thinking, over and over. It is time… more »

Simple Goal: Joyous

August 22, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Doesn’t this picture illustrate what we want for our children–happiness? When I first taught at The Prospect School in Vermont, I… more »

Power

August 21, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Like The Hundredth Monkey, the opt-out movement led by parents keeps growing to the point where there are large numbers… more »

A Lesson in Fighting

August 21, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Damien Nichols wrongfully accused of murder, on death row for eighteen years, makes a choice based on his desire to… more »

a necessary change of course

August 19, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

After 9 months writing daily with a goal to find reasons to hope, to sustain morale, to keep trying within… more »

Miracle Workers

August 18, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Impossible

August 17, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

This morning, a student teacher said he was tired (waking up so early again). This is not tired, I told… more »

Toward What Purpose?

August 16, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Tomorrow I re-enter a school building after several weeks away. I am trying to suspend expectations but they are there…. more »

New Start-Trust

August 15, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

“The best way to know if you can trust somebody is trust them.” Ernest Hemingway Two days until return to… more »

Community Circle

August 15, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I believe that our human nature leads us to connect. We want to collaborate. Traditional communities operate with rituals and… more »

Present…

August 13, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

A new school year is like a new year–I can’t help making resolutions. I would like to bring the calm… more »

Try this

August 12, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Wonder if there is something to this advice from the far past: First thing every morning before you arise say… more »

Why?

August 11, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Keep trying–you never know when your word, your act, your listening will make the difference or contributes to the a… more »

Courage

August 11, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

How do we know when to take action, what actions will make a difference? There isn’t a simple answer–maybe no… more »

Sing it

August 9, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

A conversation in the New York Times with D’Angelo and Bobby Seale looking for what we can do—multiple things to do. more »

Notice

August 8, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

I worked in a school where we spent one after school meeting every week focused on one child. We used… more »

Every single one

August 8, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

As the start of school draws closer, pictures of kids in hallways and classrooms fill my mind. Crowds of kids…. more »

Who They Are

August 6, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

How many of us who now are in a position to assume we have the privilege of being seen as white… more »

Love (reminded)

August 5, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

In all the debate of public education, in all the arguments in defense of public education, we have not remembered… more »

James Baldwin

August 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Turning to those who have voiced the struggle for justice and social well being. Some statements from James Baldwin to… more »

Resolve

August 4, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Even if we can never, finally, win for good, I take heart in how many of us there are who will… more »

In Balance

August 2, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Would you say in the course of your day at work you interact with more people you consider good or… more »

When there’s no antidote

August 2, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

Compassion’s Greek root means “to feel with.’ In the Greek myth of a wounded healer, Hercules accidentally scratched his friend,… more »

Grief

July 31, 2015 / Marjorie Larner / What We Can Do

This past week, a few days after losing a great friend from whom I learned so much of what sustains… more »

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