"Capturing the Friedmans" Dad Was My Unforgettable Teacher: Apply His Classroom Lessons to Set His Son Free

Just posted in The Huffington Post:

Capturing the Friedmans Dad Was My Unforgettable Teacher: Apply His Classroom Lessons to Set His Son Free

Arnold Friedman was a quirky nuclear physics teacher who wrote something odd in my high school yearbook: Perry - I would like to meet your 3-eyed kids, but don't blame me! (a seeming poke at the irradiated material we handled in his college-level class, and the resulting mutations) He was a funny, inspirational, award winning teacher whose teaching techniques I model in my college classroom. In 1986, students organized a retirement party and recalled that he was "unforgettable" and "he turned my life around."

In 1987, Mr. Friedman and his seventeen year old son Jesse were arrested and accused of molesting over a dozen young children in their home basement, where the retired teacher opened a computer school for kids.

CONTINUE READING @ THE HUFFINGTON POST:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/capturing-the-friedmans-d_b_689465.html

Humor in College & Blogging @ The Huffington Post

Today, we take the Crazy Classroom on a class trip to The Huffington Post, where I'm blogging on college-related issues. First up is humor...

The Case for Humor in the College Classroom

As college professors nationwide prepare for a new academic year, my message for them is simple: Lighten up! Your students just might engage and learn.

I never dreamed of being a college professor. Does anybody? When my third grade teacher asked us about our dream job, Molly said an astronaut; Evan, an actor. Perry: Obtain a terminal degree and lecture on legal morasses.

Continue reading at The Huffington Post...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/the-case-for-humor-in-the_b_679826.html

The Inspiring Teacher & What Makes a "Great" Teacher?

Good News - My Inspiring Teacher Interview Series now has a web site which compiles all of the teacher interviews from the Crazy Classroom blog. Please visit:

The Inspiring Teacher Series

http://www.perrybinder.com/teacher.htm

Also, I found an interesting article on teaching, including this segment:

What I do believe is that it's very rare to find a "natural teacher" who is a success from her first day to the last class twenty-five or thirty years later. It requires a number of years of "seasoning" in which many mistakes and many inspirational moments give us the repertoire of approaches that enable students who are willing learners to excel, but also those who are reluctant learners to arrive at a "tipping point" that can produce remarkable results. Bur (sic) to conclude that a "great teacher" is the most significant factor in determining the success or failure of a student twenty-five years later is, at least to me, ignoring the importance of many other circumstances, not a few of which are not "measurable."

Continue reading

Educating for Democracy: What Makes a "Great" Teacher?

Joel Shatsky

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-shatzky/educating-for-democracy-w_b_669140.html

Inspired by High School Theater Teacher and Her Play about AIDS

Bianna's High School Teacher's Play Changed Her Life
By BIANNA GOLODRYGA

How many people can say a high school play changed their life? I can and it's because of my inspiring teacher who wrote that play, Sharon Ferranti. Ferranti's play tackled a difficult issue – AIDS. For many Americans, the impact of AIDS in the mid-1990s was little more than a blip on the nightly news.

But for Ferranti, it consumed her life. "When you're 65 and 70, 75 you expect to have gone to a lot of funerals and hospitals. You expect to be watching your people go," Ferranti said. "That's not supposed to happen when you're in your mid-30s."

Continue reading: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Inspirations/bianna-golodryga-inspired-high-school-theater-teacher-play/story?id=11110388
Bianna Golodryga Inspired by Her High School Theater Teacher and Her Play
Bianna's High School Teacher's Play Changed Her Life

By BIANNA GOLODRYGA