Carol Kirkpatrick, possibly the brightest writer I ever met in a writing group (proof positive being her ability to scribble out a pithy, brilliantly crafted story on the spot) had the additional charm of treating me to an oral history of Brooklyn whenever we walked its streets together. Combining warmth, depth, humor, and subtlety well into her 90s, she will always represent perfectly what I’d like to be when I grow up. My hope is to charm you with this sample of her writing:
Learning
The trouble with teaching is that it too frequently asphyxiates learning.
There’s the teacher up front going full throttle with the dog-and-pony show. And there are the students…passive…immobilized.
Learning isn’t static. Especially with young children. Learning is dynamic. It’s the ah-hah recognition exploding into action. The teacher’s job is to facilitate.
