Thursday Thread #38
Intro
This is Time's Corner, a weekly newsletter by Christian Leithart. I’m the editor of Good Work magazine and the creator of Psalm Tap, a yearly colloquium for church musicians. By day, I teach, and by night, I edit this newsletter.
Here at Time’s Corner, Thursdays are devoted to your replies. On Monday, I asked:
How did COVID affect your educational choices and experience in the fall of 2020?
From You
Ryan says:
We were one of the few families who went from homeschooling to sending the kids to a classical christian school in 2020. And even though the 2021 school year was beset by, let’s say, an (unnecessary) ABUNDANCE of caution, I don’t regret the decision in the least. We are lifers.
Melissa says:
Covid didn't have much of an impact on my educational choices in 2020; I was already a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Dallas, so I wasn't really in a position to change schools! Early in 2020 I had already made the decision to stop adjuncting for the Dallas County community college system, because they were on the verge of big institutional changes that I didn't think would be conducive to my teaching (they were merging all campuses into one big college, and it wasn't clear if I would even get to choose which campus I taught at), which stiffened my resolve to start adjuncting at UD. I did have the odd experience of teaching a hybrid course that fall (I ended up coming to the conclusion that the students who are most inclined to think that online learning will be easier are also often the students who are least likely to excel online).
A couple of readers wrote to me about Charlotte Mason.
Russell says:
I taught at a CM [Charlotte Mason] school for a year. Her foreign language curriculum leaves much to be desired, but I think she understood the whole idea of “input and output” pretty well. Pretty sure I read in her “Home Ed” book how Rousseau was an influence, and so her view of children was maybe another super Calvinist…? Idk. I struggled with the method and classroom management (I was also a 23 year old guy teaching k-8 as the roving Spanish teacher!!)
Jen says:
So happy to see her shared far and wide. I attended an ACCS virtual conference a few years ago and heard one talk that briefly mentioned Mason. This past year, nearly half of the talks had her name involved. I'm so hopeful that her philosophy will overtake the Neoclassical "Sayer's model" (if you can even call it that) and make a sweeping revolution within classical schools. We would love to see our kids participate in our local school (our alma mater) once they are in the upper grades, but the lower school is so far from what we want at this point, even having gone through it ourselves. Excited to hear more from you on this.
Links
This story of the pallet wars (whitewood vs. CHEP) sounds like satire, but it’s not.
This story of an annual Italian three-day orange war also sounds like satire, and it is not.
This story about the TSA’s latest affront on your privacy sounds like dystopian science-fiction, and it is—minus the fiction.
Upcoming
The second issue of Good Work will be mailed to subscribers in April. Sign up to get your copy. It's free.
The fourth annual Psalm Tap will take place in Birmingham on July 19th. Registration opens soon. In the meantime, you can watch recordings of previous years’ talks here.
Up To
Reading: Is there anything better than an essay on a wonderful book written by an insightful reader? Stanley Hauerwas makes me love Watership Down even more.
Watching: Abbott Elementary, mostly.
Listening: Having recently re-watched 1917, I went through the Team Deakins podcast archive to find info about how they shot the movie. In this episode, photographers Alex and Rebecca Webb interview Roger and James about the process and, boy, is it ever one delightfully geeky conversation.
About
I’m Christian Leithart, a writer and teacher living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m not active on social media, but you can read my blog here. Use the button below to share this issue of Time’s Corner, if you so desire. Thanks much for reading.