During this music concert, tucked into my favorite back-row aisle seat, I’m carried away by these high schoolers’ earnest 1960s musical storytelling and wonder…
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Sarah Cooper
Latest posts
Have We Done Enough?
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In teaching, we’re in the very business of kids leaving us. Often we get them for one year –sometimes, if we’re lucky, for two…
Time to Plant Tears
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Lately, the world has been opening up here in our corner of Los Angeles, and I’ve been crying, a lot. Tears have arrived at…
Seeking Sprawl
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Lately I’ve come back to the same image when I fantasize about having every student back in the classroom, particularly the 8th graders I…
Remembering What Matters With Elie Wiesel
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For the past 18 years, I’ve taught at secular schools with their own rich sets of values. But Ariel Burger’s Witness: Lessons from Elie…
Musical Madness for Four, or Fifty
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This was a project of passion, not perfection — of journeying, not judging — just as it had been for the past six months,…
From Couch to 5K, For Real
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This is a story a story about coaching, mentoring, and teaching —about how our seemingly small comments and actions can accrue to become something…
Elton John’s Hidden Curriculum
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On the windowsill in my office, a large Ficus trees defies the odds, stretching its glossy leaves towards the window. It is a vestige…