An old teacher of mine was in the LA Times this morning and I couldn’t be happier. The writer did a good job of capturing an aspect of his teaching, the digression, which I distinctly remember.
Mr. Smolin had a way of tying in literature to life experiences, movies, music etc, that I will never forget. He was a character to say the least, but also a really great teacher. I’ve been lucky with my educational experiences: UC Berkeley was a blast, Columbia Journalism school is looking to be great, but it all started at Hamilton in Los Angeles.
Mr. Smolin was also my senior thesis adviser. That year me and another student formed a band (long live Aleatory) and we recorded our own album. It’s one of my prouder moments in music — a side passion in my life. As you can see from the article, Smolin was a great advisor, as he too is a fellow musician.
But what hit me the most in the article was that it tapped into the fact that all the teachers at the Humanities Magnet share Mr. Smolin’s approach to teaching. It wasn’t about testing, so much as creating an environment where critical thinking was cherished and nurtured. I’m glad to see they are getting some recognition.