Mark Nichol, Web production editor, Edutopia.org, and assistant managing editor, Edutopia

Mark Nichol

After a year and a half as a substitute teacher, Mark Nichol taught elementary school classes in a public school, as well as children's summer science workshops, from 1989 to 1991. Though he left teaching long ago, Mark has followed education closely since then, especially during his three years at Edutopia, and he is glad to have this forum to share his experiences in and ideas about teaching and learning.


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Moving Forward: It's Time to Rethink Physical Education

By Mark Nichol

2/8/08

When I was in elementary school, physical education classes were unmemorable and uninspired. We played dodgeball, kickball -- the usual suspects. During my secondary school years, PE classes often consisted of alpha males dominating the field with headlong, undisciplined aggression while everyone else tried to participate without getting underfoot. I was fortunate enough to have one coach who modeled skills for us.

Get Out: Educators Need to Nurture an Interest in Nature

By Mark Nichol

1/18/08

I've read too many articles about students who, during a field trip to a park or wilderness area, were frightened by unfamiliar noises or the possibility that some beastie might creep up and devour them. It depresses me to think that many children -- and even supervising adults -- are so alienated from nature that they consider the outdoors to be an unpleasant or even hostile environment. Even more depressing is the fact that their aversion to the Great Outdoors is often learned behavior.

"Just Because": A Random Act of Unkindness

By Mark Nichol

1/11/08

A friend of mine was bicycling through a quiet neighborhood one day last fall when, like a good citizen, she slowed to a halt at a stop sign. When my friend started pedaling again, a teenage girl who, flanked by a group of friends, was standing in the street near the corner as if she were going to cross, suddenly slugged my friend in the arm, knocking her off her bike and onto the ground.

The Tools of Tomorrow: New Technologies in the Classroom

By Mark Nichol

1/4/08

I'm not old, but I feel like a fossil when I remember taking a continuing-education course for teachers about computers nearly twenty years ago. Each of us was given one large, thin floppy disk after another, onto which, with guidance from our instructor, we took turns copying various low tech simulations and activities from the classroom's lone personal computer, a primitive and boxy IBM clone.

The Learning Lab: Science Center Is an Ideal Model for All Classrooms

By Mark Nichol

12/21/07

In my last entry, I described a favorite experience from my short teaching career: the opportunity to use free and freely available science manipulatives and materials to enable hands-on discovery in the classroom. It reminded me of one of the most remarkable learning environments I have ever had the pleasure to spend time in.

A Fortune from FOSS: Treasure Chests of Hands-On Science Learning

By Mark Nichol

12/13/07

While walking through my neighborhood recently, I noticed several large, colorful cardboard boxes in the back of a pickup truck parked in a driveway. Upon closer inspection, I recognized their labels: Each read "FOSS," the acronym for the Full Option Science System, a science curriculum developed about twenty years ago by staff at the Lawrence Hall of Science, a museum and learning center at the University of California at Berkeley.

An Ageless Approach: Why Multiage Classrooms Should Replace Fixed Grade Levels

By Mark Nichol

12/3/07

One day, the mother of one of my fourth-grade students came in to meet with me about her son. She reported that Noah, who I knew to be extremely bright, was bored with math. Although my school district's textbooks included problem-solving activities and stories, and I augmented the curriculum with various exercises that required students to apply creativity and higher-order thinking skills, the assignments, she told me, were still too easy for him.

Fresh Start: A Novice Teacher Tries Again After a Tough First Year

By Mark Nichol

11/19/07

In my last entry, I recounted my challenging first year as a teacher. Here, I’ll describe my second-year misfortunes, and my decision to call it quits after my third strike.

New Kid on the Block: Surviving My First Year in the Classroom

By Mark Nichol

11/14/07

What does it take to ensure that new teachers have a fair shake at succeeding? Perhaps my experience is instructive.