Forward

We are going to be but a sentence in the book of the universe.
And so I think it is incumbent upon us to write
the best possible sentence that we can.
—Grant Tremblay

It is better to light a candle against the darkness than to curse it.
–Proverbs

“Education in this country is in trouble. Public, private, K-12, universities…our entire schooling system is failing our children, adolescents, and young adults in some fundamental and critical ways, and I am not alone in thinking so…”

–from the Introduction

Welcome to Light a Candle: Lessons from a Life in the Classroom.

Part memoir, part philosophical reflection, part how-to, this combination of e-book and education blog is the culmination of more than 30 years in the teaching profession, and it is my contribution to the on-going dialogue about how best to reform and improve the learning taking place in our schools today.  My hope and intent for this project is to challenge everyone who works with children to aspire to become our very best selves as educators, and for those most interested in exploring how we can fix the educational systems in this country, I suggest starting with the e-book’s Introduction, where I outline the key changes necessary to make our schools functional again, introducing a concept I am calling “authentic engagement.” 

However, for those most interested in exploring the current state-of-affairs in schools (along with daily life in the classroom), I suggest starting with my LaC blog and its Updates Archive.  There, I continue to explore everything from the impact of the pandemic to the digital divide (as well as other social justice issues), and I regularly post the latest brain research and its bearing on how teaching and learning need to change to be more effective.  These shorter essays are meant to complement the larger work of the project presented in the e-book, and for a more casual reader, they provide a nice, abbreviated starting point to my ideas about education.

And if I happen to generate some additional thoughts about how we can be addressing the issues I am raising about teaching and learning in today’s classrooms, I encourage sharing. Feedback and comments are welcomed throughout the e-book and blog pages. Or I can be contacted directly at the project e-mail, stemteacheremeritus.rpcs@gmail.com. 

I hope you find the journey beginning with either the Introduction or my first post a rewarding one, and I look forward to hearing other’s thoughts and ideas.

David L. Brock