Ohanian, Susan 1941–

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Ohanian, Susan 1941–

PERSONAL:

Born February 19, 1941, in Sacramento, CA; daughter of Will Franklin (an undertaker) and Martha (a registered nurse) Farnsworth; married Hans Christoph Ohanian (a physicist), June 28, 1966. Education: San Francisco State University, B.A., 1962; University of California, Berkeley, M.A., 1964. Politics: Independent. Hobbies and other interests: Sailing on Lake Champlain.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Charlotte, VT. E-mail—susano@gmavt.net.

CAREER:

J. Walter Thompson (advertising agency), employee, 1964-65; schoolteacher in Troy, NY, 1967-84; Learning (magazine), staff writer in California and Pennsylvania, 1983-90. University of Vermont, consultant to John Dewey Project on Progressive Education, 2000—; Arizona State University, fellow of Educator Policy Research Unit.

MEMBER:

National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Educator Round Table (fellow) Vermont Society for the Study of Education (fellow).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Writing honors include awards from Child magazine and EdPress; George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, National Council of Teachers of English, for Susan Ohanian Web site.

WRITINGS:

Within the Forest, Macmillan/McGraw (New York, NY), 1991.

Garbage Pizza, Patchwork Quilts, and Math Magic: Stories about Teachers Who Love to Teach and Children Who Love to Learn, W.H. Freeman (New York, NY), 1992.

Wolves, illustrated by Trevor Ruth, SRA (Santa Rosa, CA), 1994.

Math CrossSections, Macmillan/McGraw (New York, NY), 1994.

Who's in Charge? A Teacher Speaks Her Mind, Boynton/Cook (Portsmouth, NH), 1994.

From Pumpkin Time to Valentines: Sneaking Language Arts Strategies into Holiday Celebrations, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1994.

All about Bears, illustrated by Trevor Ruth, SRA (Santa Rosa, CA), 1994.

Math as a Way of Knowing, Stenhouse Publishers (York, ME), 1995.

Math at a Glance: A Month-by-Month Celebration of the Numbers around Us, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 1995.

Ask Ms. Class, Stenhouse Publishers (York, ME), 1996.

Day by Day Activity Book: 365 Days of Fun Ideas for Parents, Teachers, and Kids, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 1997.

Standards, Plain English, and the Ugly Duckling: Lessons about What Teachers Really Do, Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation (Bloomington, IN), 1998.

One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 1999.

Day-by-Day Math: Activities for Grades 3-6, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2000.

Caught in the Middle: Nonstandard Kids and a Killing Curriculum, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 2001.

Books Day by Day: Anniversaries, Anecdotes, and Activities, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 2001.

(With Maryann Wickett and Marilyn Burns) Lessons for Introducing Division: Grades 3-4, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.

The Great Word Catalogue: Fundamental Activities for Building Vocabulary, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 2002.

What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten?, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Kathy Emery) Why Is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools?, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 2004.

A Roadblock in Vermont's Design for Education, VSSE (Brandon, VT), 2007.

NCLB: Data and Desolation, VSSE (Brandon, VT), 2007.

Contributor of more than 300 articles to magazines, including Atlantic, USA Today, Washington Monthly, and Phi Delta Kappan.

SIDELIGHTS:

Susan Ohanian once told CA: "As a young teacher in the 1970s, I was annoyed and alarmed that most of what was written about schools seemed foreign to what was going on in my classroom. So I started writing about my students. Publishers kept asking me to write for their magazines, and eventually I left the classroom to write full-time. The need is still there. Most of what appears in the popular press is disconnected from classroom reality. I feel it's my job to be out there, reminding people about the needs of children."

Ohanian later added: "I run a Web site of opposition to federal mandates for education, where I am working with teachers and parents to take back our schools."