Cana Academy

NEW: Episode 31 of the HISTORY250 series is now live!

In the aftermath of the Louisiana Purchase, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explore America’s vast new lands:

American Looks Westward — History250 In the aftermath of the Louisiana Purchase, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explore America’s vast new lands.

NEW: Episode 30 of the HISTORY250 series is now live!

In 1803, the United States purchased from France the vast territory of Louisiana—and for a modest sum. Hear the story here:

Episode 30 - Three Cents an Acre — History250 In 1803, the United States purchased from France the vast territory of Louisiana—and for a modest sum.

Do you want the teachers at your school to excel in their craft?

Institute teacher mentoring:

Cana Academy — Seeking Excellence in Teaching? Mentor! An academy should want to be as excellent as possible in delivering its mission. The key to this is excellent teaching, a great responsibility that requires an academy to develop its teachers with its deepest source of practice and wisdom: its veteran teachers. When the academy organizes them to men

A double feature recommendation:

Sturges made a handful of American movie classics. Among these were the team-oriented adventures, "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape". But before those, Sturges directed a movie about one man against the world: "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Cana Academy — John Sturges Double Feature: Bad Day at Black Rock and The Magnificent Seven Paul Thomas Anderson, director of There Will Be Blood , once commented on the classic Hollywood director John Sturges saying, “You can learn more from John Sturges’ audio track on the Bad Day at Black Rock laserdisc than you can in 20 years of film school.”[1] Whether or not that is true, Stur...

An academy should want to be as excellent as possible in delivering its mission.

The key to this is excellent teaching is mentoring:

Cana Academy — Seeking Excellence in Teaching? Mentor! An academy should want to be as excellent as possible in delivering its mission. The key to this is excellent teaching, a great responsibility that requires an academy to develop its teachers with its deepest source of practice and wisdom: its veteran teachers. When the academy organizes them to men

Looking for some movie recommendations?

Here's a double feature suggestion:

Cana Academy — John Sturges Double Feature: Bad Day at Black Rock and The Magnificent Seven Paul Thomas Anderson, director of There Will Be Blood , once commented on the classic Hollywood director John Sturges saying, “You can learn more from John Sturges’ audio track on the Bad Day at Black Rock laserdisc than you can in 20 years of film school.”[1] Whether or not that is true, Stur...

NEW: A new HISTORY250® special is now live!

In honor of the recent 62nd anniversary of the March on Washington, we revisit Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic words at the event:

Let Freedom Ring — History250 In 1963, Dr. King delivers the most iconic speech of the Civil Rights Movement.

You have launched your seminar this semester. Still, you just might be wondering how to think about what you are seeing in the classroom. Is the seminar participation what it should be? By what standards should you measure each student’s contribution? How can you best evaluate your seminar students?

Some useful answers to those questions:

Cana Academy — Seminar Participation: What It Should Be & How to Evaluate It You have launched your seminar this semester. Still, you just might be wondering how to think about what you are seeing in the classroom. Is the seminar participation what it should be? By what standards should you measure each student’s contribution? How can you best evaluate your seminar student...

An open letter to teachers as they head into the new school year:

Cana Academy — Go Hard: An Open Letter to Teachers in the Opening Weeks of School On behalf of all the parents of the children in your classes, let me begin by thanking you for all that you have done for them and all that you will do this year. Your vocation is among the most honorable and necessary for the human race, right next to the healing arts of medicine and the sanctifyin

It’s a brand-new academic year.

If you are a seminar leader, now is a good time to sharpen your gameplan for how to lead well:

Cana Academy — 5 Ways to Sharpen Your Seminar Start It’s a brand-new academic year. If you are a seminar leader, now is a good time to sharpen your gameplan for how to lead well. To help you, I have devised a Seminar Leader’s Start Chart, which you will find below. A good start to a seminar sets the tone, energy level, and focus for the entire se...

NEW: The latest episode of the HISTORY250 series is now live!

Watch episode 29 for the story of "The Revolution of 1800":

Ballots Over Bullets — History250 In 1800, America faced a bitterly rivalrous election.

How do you discern which student arguments to entertain as plausible and which to dismiss as misleading?

Some tips:

Cana Academy — Plausible vs. Implausible: How to Tell the Difference To be an effective seminar leader, you must energetically guide your students in a careful reading of the texts. However, if you are too heavy-handed, the conversation will quickly deteriorate into a battle, or, equally undesirable, conversation will come to an end. Teachers need to gain the trust o