I wrote this story and told it before the November festival of Martinmas which is a time when the year turns toward outer darkness and we are reminded of the importance of sharing the inner light of compassion. Kim Allsup *** Long ago when travel was by horse and lighting was by candle, a lighthouse keeper and his family lived…
Does photosynthesis work the same in underwater plants as land plants? This perceptive query about photosynthesis asked in a fifth grade botany class led to one of those moments when curiosity electrified our classroom. When I admitted I didn’t know the answer yet, my students gave me an assignment. “Will you find out and tell us?” By fourth…
It seems that news of the day is rarely uplifting or inspirational. So we need to find time to turn off the negative and turn to the positive. Join a group of children and their teacher as they journey together from first through sixth grade. You will laugh, smile, and just want to hug these kids a they grapple with…
Originally posted on Growing Children:
This book is the story of the six years a teacher spent teaching the same group of children from grade one through six, but is more than that. Funny, poignant, moving, relatable and finally, life-affirming and hopeful, this memoir gently shows the way to an educational approach that is worthy of childhood:one rooted in wonder.…
“It was as if my long-term students and I were taking a long journey by ship and it was my fault that, in the parlance of the controversial education law, William was being left behind.”
This is the big issue in education that nobody is talking about. I wrote this Post for Scary Mommy about public school teachers losing professional autonomy. My teaching memoir, A Gift of Wonder shows professional freedom in teaching in an era where teacher autonomy is seriously threatened.
by Kim Allsup My teaching bag of tricks is full of stories, lots of stories— biographies that are a window into history, stories to teach the alphabet, stories that break down the complexity of a math process and metaphoric stories such as parables and fables that spark thinking. My students are used to stories that take them on a journey…
I enjoyed talking with Mindy Todd on WCAI about my book, A Gift of Wonder, A True Story Showing School As It Should Be. Our conversation was about: Waldorf schools, public schools, the importance of wonder in education, professional autonomy for teachers and why I wrote a story instead of a polemic. I also shared anecdotes from the classroom including the…
I followed his astounded gaze back to the high window ledge. The pod had burst wide open into a cumulous, pulsating mass. The slight breeze from the other window tickled the fluff, coaxing bits of down into the air. Suddenly the room was clouded with milkweed down. Then something happened, something that would happen again and again over my six…
From Chapter One, A Gift of Wonder, A True Story Showing School As It Should Be by Kim Allsup I followed his astounded gaze back to the high window ledge. The pod had burst wide open into a cumulous, pulsating mass. The slight breeze from the other window tickled the fluff, coaxing bits of down into the air. Suddenly the…
