When Mid-Level Intellectuals Play King Of The Hill For Web Traffic Glory

“Tom: Have you read Mark’s takedown of Sam’s latest article? Harry: No. Tom: Have you read Sam’s latest article? Harry: No. Tom: Okay, you should read Sam’s latest article so you can read Mark’s takedown. Harry: Okay. Tom: Actually, Sam’s latest article is a response to Reggie’s latest article, so you should read Reggie’s first.Continue reading “When Mid-Level Intellectuals Play King Of The Hill For Web Traffic Glory”

Episode 120: A Very Special Episode Of Proverbial

True story, I enjoyed recording this episode so much that I recorded it twice, and the second version is ten minutes longer than the first. There will likely be a corresponding post on the CiRCE blog about this proverb in the next couple weeks. The subject of the episode? Stupidity. More specifically, the word “stupid”Continue reading “Episode 120: A Very Special Episode Of Proverbial”

Tips For College Teachers Applying At Classical High Schools

“I’ve seen many college profs conduct high school classes with the same game plan they use in a Lit 510 discussion of Milton or Dante. It doesn’t work. They ask a lot of provocative questions and get a lot of short answers, bad answers, or silence. Socratic discussions work far better among older people whoContinue reading “Tips For College Teachers Applying At Classical High Schools”

In Praise of Difficult Students

“Just as small-minded administrators, parents, and students cannot distinguish between different kinds of difficult teachers, small-minded teachers lump every sort of difficult student into the same “bad” bunch. A disobedient student is a liar, a cheat, a scofflaw who disregards small rules, a queen bee enthralled by the shallowness of popular culture, a bully whoseContinue reading “In Praise of Difficult Students”