If they aren't learning the way you teach, teach the way they learn

Another epigram from Mr. A. He's got a million of 'em.

American Public School was a good class. We talked about how middle schools are different from junior high schools; mandatory attendance, its importance, and how to enforce it; and the characteristics of an effective school. We also turned in our midterms, which were take-home and not very involved. One of the tasks was to make a timeline spotlighting ten of the most significant events in the history of American public education.

My timeline featured:

1. The Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647
2. Article I of the US Constitution
3. The common school movement that started in Massachusetts
4. Plessy v. Furgeson
5. Brown v. Board of Education
6. The War on Poverty --- the great increase in education funding
7. Title I and Head Start
8. A Nation At Risk
9. IDEA
10. No Child Left Behind

Someone else mentioned Article X, which is pretty significant. By devolving the responsibility for public education to the states, it opened to the door to the debates and controversies that surround our schools today. Who knows? If the Founding Fathers had thought of a federal Education Department, there might not have ever been (legal) segregation.

But then, that's just crazy talk.