Why Do We Accept the Negative Aspects of Education?

by Heather MacCorkle | Mar 21, 2021 | Education, Learning, Teaching, Virtual Learning

As we round the bend toward the end of a challenging school year, we educators hear so much about the negative effects of remote and hybrid learning on students and families this year. Is there anything positive that has come from it? Yes. At the very least, we have...

Let’s Unhide the Hidden Curriculum

by Heather MacCorkle | Feb 22, 2021 | Education, Learning, Life, Teaching, Virtual Learning

According to The Glossary of Education Reform, the hidden curriculum “consists of the unspoken or implicit academic, social, and cultural messages that are communicated to students while they are in school.” This year, the hidden curriculum isn’t so...

Feeling Capable, Competent, and Valuable

by Heather MacCorkle | Feb 14, 2021 | Education, Life, Teaching, Virtual Learning

Usually, my blog posts address educational topics immediately. This post will be different. Just as we teachers have found our personal and professional lives blended out of necessity while we teach from home, my blog post today will address something personal and tie...

“How do I teach now?” – Lessons from the Classroom after an Insurrection

by Heather MacCorkle | Jan 24, 2021 | Education, Essays, Learning, Life, Teaching, Virtual Learning, Writing

On January 6, 2021, I was working with a student during office hours when my husband came into the dining room to tell me that people had stormed the U.S. Capitol. My mouth dropped open. My student’s mouth dropped open. After my husband apologized for...

“How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?”

by Heather MacCorkle | Jan 8, 2021 | Education, Teaching, Virtual Learning

Repurposing a famous line from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” to highlight a positive aspect of education. From Veggies to Meat In my last post for Medium, I wrote about ed-tech “veggies.” That was one of my favorite posts to...

What a Semester!

by Heather MacCorkle | Dec 23, 2020 | Education, Essays, Learning, Teaching, Virtual Learning

Semester One of 2020–2021 is either over or almost over. How are you feeling? Back in September, I created a post asking when we would get used to this new normal. When I wrote it, I thought that surely, by December, our new routines would no longer be...