Academics & Writing

Executive Function

Mindfulness

The work

My approach to academics

Uncluttering the mind, building habits, growing ideas.

Never underestimate the power of a calendar. I prioritize maintaining a list of tasks, checking it at regular intervals with the student, and loading in assignments well before they’re due. These are steps that will untangle the web of to-do’s and, most importantly, lift stress off of the student’s shoulders.

I’ve seen firsthand that students who feel out of control or simply out of sync with school life cannot manage coursework. I incorporate meditations, which some students grow to love and ask to do every week. These exercises expand the mind, shutting off the rhythms imposed at school and allowing the student to discover a more organic tempo of thought. Occasionally, I also lead short games that put the student in a state of receptivity and play.

Then there’s the schoolwork. There are a number of approaches which I deploy selectively depending on the student’s abilities and style.

The 2 main pillars of approaching any task are (1) setting limits and (2) creating conversation:

  1. Setting limits

This involves establishing boundaries of time, narrowing the scope of our focus, creating an order of events for our work and even defining my and the student’s roles. Once we’ve laid these ground rules, we can move on to…

2. Creating Conversation

It is through conversation that we’re able to access the soul of the work, to birth ideas and forge neural pathways. Our conversation starts out broad and freewheeling, and becomes more focused as we discover the right keys for unlocking an assignment, prompt, or long-term mission.

Writing

Where to begin?

Our writing work always starts small. To analyze a text, the student must start with a single quote — or even word — not a novel. In order to write something about him/herself, they must focus on a moment, not a lifetime. Essential truths exist in the tiny cells of a story. This is why we start each paper or project with specific questions, and why the basic unit of my teaching is the index card, not the textbook.

For the College Essay

What are 12 objects that represent you? That reflect some essential part of you, or a place, or a loved one? Write them down in a list.

For an essay about a book, poem, or play.

Find 1 electrifying quote within the piece. Write it in the middle of a white piece of paper. Mark any words, repetition, metaphors/literary devices that impact you.

For a writing about a film

In a single word, tell me what this film is about. We’ll discuss, then repeat the exercise with another word.

For writing an original story, film, novel, etc.

What are the first instinctive, non-logical images that appear in your mind when you think about this project? Think of 5 of them, and write each on its own index card. We’ll repeat this. Then we will make a list of ideas that connect these images.