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Last week, I contrasted the cliché junior high classroom—of raucous teenagers throwing spitballs, passing love notes, and giggling at lewd jokes—with a VanDamme Academy junior high classroom—of young adults in raptures over Cyrano de Bergerac. How we produce students with such maturity and enthusiasm for learning is something I hope…

John Lewis on the Kit Jarrell Show On Friday, February 2, at 10:00 PM EST, TOS contributing editor John Lewis will be interviewed on the Kit Jarrell Show. The subject is his most recent TOS article, "'No Substitute for Victory': The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism." Tune in for what is…

When I tell people that I teach literature to junior high students, the response is nearly universal: an expression of profound sympathy. Teaching junior high is regarded as a martyr's job, to be taken on only by those with such a selfless commitment to children and education that they are…

Several weeks ago, in my article "Pattern Recognition vs. Real Understanding," I stressed the crucial connection between writing and understanding: For the student to write explanations, in complete sentences, about every subject—whether history, literature, grammar, math, or anything else—requires that he have a true understanding of the concepts at hand.…

To the Editor: Various TOS articles by Dr. John Lewis have helped me identify the essential nature of the current "War on Terrorism." One shouldn't be surprised that an entity's actions follow from the entity's nature. As a political entity, the USA is a welfare state. It is taking various…

Regarding my article "No Substitute for Victory": The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism in The Objective Standard, readers have brought up several questions that I'd like to answer. Among them are two of great importance: (1) Isn't the enemy stateless, i.e., without the kind of centralized political state that controlled Japan?…

Many people understand that education is in desperate need of reform, but few recognize how radical the reform must be. What is needed is not a bigger education budget, a stronger teacher's union, smaller class sizes, or more rigorous testing procedures. But neither is the solution simply a renewed spirit…

Every class in elementary and junior high school should be in a lecture format. The teacher must be an authority on the subject, he must grasp its basic purpose, he must carefully define the knowledge to be conveyed by reference to that purpose, and he must present that knowledge in…

On March 1, 1973, eight Palestinian Black September killers stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum during a send-off party for American Charges d'Affairs George C. Moore. They took Moore, U.S. Ambassador Cleo A. Noel, Jr., Belgian Charges d'Affairs Guy Eid, and two other diplomats hostage. They demanded the release…

TOS contributor Dianne Durante has started a new author's blog for her forthcoming book, Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan. From her first post: For the next two months (through February 2007) I plan to post a paragraph or two every day about one of the OMOM essays: what's covered in [essay…

This piece draws on Bevin Alexander's analysis of Confederate Civil War General Stonewall Jackson's plan to march north against Washington, D.C. Rather than remain tied down before Union armies in Virginia, Jackson wanted to take the war to his enemy's capital. Southern leaders, being unable to think more broadly than…

Every year, when I give my first test in a grammar or literature class, some new student asks me whether the test will be multiple choice. Every year, I look him in the eye and say: "I can assure you that you will never, in any class, under any circumstances,…

It is not surprising that our no-homework policy does wonders for parents' relationships with their children. I will never forget when a parent sat at my desk one day and, told me, with tears in his eyes: "You have given back our family life." But, you might ask, how do…

Every year, dozens of parents sit at my desk and describe to me the intense frustration they feel as they watch their children churned through the public schools. One of the refrains of their complaints: endless homework. And no wonder: The work itself is largely pointless. Students must complete countless…

There are two things that all Republicans know today: that you lost the mid-term election, and that the loss was a repudiation of President Bush's policies. What you must now figure out is why. Why did Americans vote as they did? What specific policies did they reject? The answer you…