Tag Archives: philosophy

Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fawn: Leveling Students by Trauma Response

My students are working on solving physics word problems systematically. This is one of the most frustrating (for the students) assignments I give them, but a valuable one because it’s essentially end game for every assignment they will see for … Continue reading

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Failing With Low Stakes

I’ve learned quite a few things in 20 years of teaching, and one of them is the motivational value of failure with low stakes. One of the best-known examples for most of us is video and arcade games. We lose … Continue reading

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Wise Fools

As you may or may not know, the etymology of the word “sophomore” is “wise fool”. The term is usually used for second-year students in high school or college because they often know enough to understand how the system works … Continue reading

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Quotes from Students

It’s almost the end of the toughest school year in the career of every teacher I know, including myself. As a present to myself, I made this slide show out of appreciative quotes from my students throughout the year.  +10

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Holiday Wishes

It’s December 25, a time when much of the world, whether for religious or personal reasons, wishes each other well and thinks about making the world a better place. Here are some of my wishes for you, my students: +9-1

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Follow-Up to Resiliency & Pandemic Fatigue

Two weeks ago, I posted (https://blog.mrbigler.com/2020/11/18/resiliency-and-pandemic-fatigue/) about students who were struggling to do much of anything this year because of their situations. In many cases, these students have difficult home lives. The messages coming at them have been negative (and … Continue reading

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Resiliency and Pandemic Fatigue

At the beginning of every school year, I survey my (11th & 12th grade) students for several things, including ACEs and resilience (using the ACE survey and the resilience survey from ACEs Too High), as well as things like time … Continue reading

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Wishing You Lots of Cope This Holiday Season

Today was the last school day before Christmas vacation.  During my classes yesterday afternoon and today, I wished my students a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule, and a Happy Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalia, Feast of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and a restful … Continue reading

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Thoughts are Free; Actions Have a Cost

As a teacher, I am entrusted with your children, no matter who they are or what they’re like.  Every teacher has students we like and students we don’t particularly like; teachers who say otherwise are most likely not being honest with … Continue reading

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Shouts of Silence

A common discussion among educators is about the student who acts out in class, reminding us that there are always reasons.  Maybe this student suffers abuse or neglect at home.  Maybe a close family member has had a major health episode … Continue reading

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