1
Podcast
Why Teach? An Introduction to the Teaching Vocation
featuring Rich MossWhy Teach? An Introduction to the Teaching Vocation
In the first talk of the 2022 Teaching Vocation Conference, Rich Moss describes some of the joys and travails of teaching, as he seeks to answer the question, “why teach?” In short, because we are called to it, because we love reality, because we love teaching, and because we love our students. Interested in the 2024 Teaching Vocation Conference? Register here.
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Video
Teaching: A Professional Vocation
featuring Colin GleasonTeaching: A Professional Vocation
A lecture by Heights Lower School Head, Colin Gleason from the 2024 Teaching Vocation conference hosted by The Heights Forum.
3
Podcast
Guidance for Aspiring Teachers
featuring Alvaro de VicenteGuidance for Aspiring Teachers
Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente offers advice to individuals interested in stepping to the front of the classroom. What sort of temperament best suits a teacher? What ought one to study in order to prepare? Listen in to learn more about what Heights Headmasters, from Bob Jackson to Alvaro de Vicente, have looked for in their faculty for 50 years.
4
Podcast
On Preparation for Teaching: Six Attributes of Great Teachers
featuring Colin GleasonOn Preparation for Teaching: Six Attributes of Great Teachers
Interested in attending the 2024 Teaching Vocation Conference? Register here. This week on HeightsCast, we bring to you a lecture from the 2022 Teaching Vocation Conference. In this lecture, Head of Lower School, Mr. Colin Gleason, offers advice on how to prepare for the teaching profession. Although the ultimate preparation for teaching is teaching itself, he nevertheless offers us six verbs—actions—that great teachers do well and that aspiring teachers would do well to work on. A great teacher speaks Teachers communicate their ideas primarily through words. In order to do this...
5
Podcast
The Art of Teaching
featuring Rich MossThe Art of Teaching
In this episode, we feature a recorded lecture given by Rich Moss in his introductory presentation at the Art of Teaching conference hosted by The Heights Forum last week. In this talk, Rich explains why teaching is an art, what that art is, and what the tools are utilized by the teaching artist.
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Article
Working with Parents
by Michael MoynihanWorking with Parents
Editor’s Note: In the spirit of Parent-Teacher Conferences which just happened last week, and in a nod to our roots, we dig up an archival article on the importance of the parent-teacher relationship. Michael Moynihan, head of the Upper School, helps us get the right perspective on what we mean when we say “Parents are the primary educators of their children.” I once mentioned to a parent, rather in passing, that our educational philosophy at The Heights School is based on our belief that parents are the primary educators of their...
7
Article
Parent Communication
by Kyle BlackmerParent Communication
The importance of parents in the life of the school cannot be overstated. As the primary educators of their children, parents bear the responsibility for forming their sons and daughters in all areas of life. The fact that parents welcome us as teachers to partner with them in this all-important endeavor is both humbling and inspiring. With this partnership in mind, we must consider parent communication to be a primary role in our work as teachers. St. Josemaría Escrivá even went so far as to say that parents, not students,...
8
Article
A Guide to Parent-Teacher Conferences
by Kyle BlackmerA Guide to Parent-Teacher Conferences
It was my second year teaching and I thought I had everything figured out. My seventh graders were doing great in their classes and I was imparting sage advice left and right during mentoring sessions. Nothing could slow me down. Nothing, that is, until parent-teacher conferences came around. As it turned out, over the course of the previous academic quarter, my advice had been less than satisfactory. Several parents approached me with fair criticisms and certainly knocked me down a few pegs. Pretty quickly I realized that I didn’t actually...
9
Podcast
Teaching the Whole Person
featuring Joe CardenasTeaching the Whole Person
At the heart of teaching is the desire to make an impact on the lives of one’s students. Beyond conveying useful information or training them in resume-building skills, great teachers wish to help their students live well—to be fully alive. Such a task, difficult as it may be, is what mentoring is all about. Yet most schools may not have a formal mentoring program. In these circumstances, how can teachers, who wish to help their students in ways that go beyond math or language arts, mentor students? To help us...
10
Podcast
Classroom Tone and Culture
featuring Tom SteensonClassroom Tone and Culture
What, you might ask, does cheese have to do with education? The answer is not that you may find holes in both, but rather that both require attention to the local culture to be made whole. This week on HeightsCast, Mr. Tom Steenson shares his thoughts on the tone and culture of the classroom. Leaning on nearly twenty-five years of teaching experience, Tom encourages us as teachers to see our classrooms as second homes and our role as assisting their primary families. There are, of course, important differences between being...
11
Article
Classroom Ambience
by Joseph BissexClassroom Ambience
Joe Bissex shares some ways we can make our classrooms feel less institutional and more personal to foster the best atmosphere for learning.
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Article
Classroom Management from Day One
by Lionel YaceczkoClassroom Management from Day One
Five Things I Wish I Had Known In 2006 I experienced some momentous first experiences. My first wedding anniversary, the birth of my first child, and my first time working a full-time position teaching middle school and high school. At the beginning of that school year, my headmaster told me that he thought it took a person two years to find out whether he was called to this profession or not called to this profession. He also mentioned a study covered by a New York Times article that found the...
13
Podcast
Respectful Dominion: On Discipline
featuring Colin GleasonRespectful Dominion: On Discipline
What’s your approach to discipline? This week we feature a lecture delivered at The Heights by Mr. Colin Gleason, Lower School Head offering his thoughts on this question. He can’t answer for us as parents, but he can share his own philosophy as a teacher and school head. Regardless of whether you are thinking classroom or kitchen, Mr. Gleason encourages us to foster a culture of respectful dominion. And this respect relates to our son’s disposition towards us. But it also has import for our respect toward them–towards their dignity...
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Playlist
Teaching Sovereign Knowers
by Michael MoynihanTeaching Sovereign Knowers
This collection examines how a curriculum is delivered and received. It is about teaching in such a way the student becomes engaged in learning, that he becomes what Walker Percy calls a “sovereign knower.” The content of the collection will be released serially. Following an introductory piece, the written portion of this collection will be divided into four parts. Complementing the written portion will be a series of podcasts, in which we discuss segments of the series in greater depth. In the first part, we will examine the roots of...
15
Article
Why Boys Need to be Given Freedom
by Andrew ReedWhy Boys Need to be Given Freedom
Unless a boy is free to make some decisions on his own, he will not be as capable of making good decisions as a young man. Boys need to be given freedom so that they have the chance to "opt-in" to all that is good in the world.