Education
The college major system is archaic
While much of the learning done in college is valuable, a significant proportion of students don’t actually use their undergraduate degree in their future career. Even though a college education is a useful experience with regard to diversity of thought and academic rigor, students would be much better off if they were permitted to explore…
Read MoreDrained to exhaustion by online learning, students should be given less school work
I began to feel the adverse effects of online school while doing homework one night during our second week. My mind a relentless murmur of the same fatigue that seemed to unfocus my eyes and sway my thoughts during the school day, I spent an hour reading a passage again and again, trying to drill…
Read MoreHow high schools failed victims of sexual assault
Sexual assault may seem like a distant fear for some, but on college campuses, it is an everyday reality. Of course, the combination of freedom and alcohol creates a dangerous environment and enhances teens’ raging hormones, thus increasing the likelihood of assault occurring. But the problem does not entirely arise from students seeking to indulge…
Read MoreSeeking a Pandemic Alternative to Tough Love
My teacherly instinct is to embed love and encouragement into my pedagogy. I go out of my way to get to know my students, to learn their extracurricular interests, family structures, social problems, and athletic achievements. I believe that students learn best from teachers who they like and who they believe like them. And I…
Read MoreI hate The Great Gatsby
Across the country, students are being brainwashed. The boomers blame social media, and they may be right. But there’s another kind of indoctrination that grinds my gears — I speak of the cult of the American high school English class. Lately, there has been much evaluation of what we teach children, primarily in history classes.…
Read MoreMore than just a time difference: Reflections of an international student
A 14-hour time difference from Korea to Princeton is difficult, as anyone I’ve complained to about my sleep schedule can attest. Yet being an international student in the age of COVID-19 means much more than a time difference. Rather, what’s most frustrating is feeling different and oftentimes less important than our United States-based peers. The…
Read MoreSearching for my reasons
More times than I can recall, I’ve started a class eager to learn about some fascinating topic. But as the semester progresses and piles on exams and homework, the course grows less and less interesting. The desire to perform well in the course starts to replace my original curiosity, until I’m not sure why I…
Read MoreSleepwalking through School
Failure is the fate of most teachers at least some of the time. In their classrooms sit students whom, despite their most heroic efforts, they just can’t reach–like TJ, a boy who traveled from Indiana to attend an eastern boarding school and found his way into my classroom. Every fall, I struggled to get students…
Read MoreThe MAT 202 cheating scandal is a problem of our making
For most of us, the news that the Committee on Discipline (COD) is investigating dozens of MAT 202 students warrants nothing more than a casual glance. We wonder how it must feel to be accused of cheating. Perhaps our peers under investigation elicit a pang of sympathy. Perhaps they don’t. “Those 202 kids got what was coming…
Read MoreOnline School Doesn’t Need to Replicate the Classroom Model
The sudden immersion into distance learning has not been easy for students or teachers. An article last spring in Forbes cites surveys that find that over 75% of high school students hate the experience, while teachers have been largely unprepared for it. Many teachers describe the difficulties and steep learning curve with which they struggle.…
Read More