Stephanie Lauritzen

Survey Follies

Improving education shouldn't rely on first proving that teachers are ineffective at doing the impossible

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• Several school districts in Utah, including mine—Canyon School District—are implementing a new teacher-evaluation system, based on Senate Bill 64, passed in 2012, ...
• Tags: Opinion

Teach Tolerance

It's healthy and good for students to see that multiple viewpoints can exist in the same space

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• It happens a few times every school year: a student sees me in the hall, and shouts, "Ms. Lauritzen! My mom showed me a clip of you on the news!" Other days, a student will casually mention seeing a recent article online ...
• Tags: Opinion

Motherhood Is Not a Career

Giving it an imaginary salary is damaging to all women

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• The choice President Obama referred to isn't a woman's choice to stay home or work. He was talking about the heartbreaking decision faced by numerous two-income families: the choice between a family's emotional well-being and its financial stability.
• Tags: Opinion

Teach Me Liberty

New AP U.S. History curriculum doesn't adulate America, and that's a good thing

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• The new curriculum entered classrooms this year, resulting in a media firestorm when conservatives interpreted the redesign as a "liberal conspiracy."
• Tags: Opinion

The Mormon Avengers

“Actively inactive” members say their love of the LDS faith is the reason they won’t abandon the church

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• Like multilayered Jell-O desserts and recipes for funeral potatoes, Mormons come in a variety of flavors. From Molly Mormons and Peter Priesthoods who wonder if “never seen an R-rated movie” counts as a résumé-worthy skill, to Jack Mormons hiding beer in the garage, Mormons self-identify in ways far more complex than the simple “I’m a Mormon” tagline.
• Tags: Cover Story

Robin Williams: Leader in the Fight Against Darkness

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• Tags: A&E, Culture, robin williams, depression

Fifty Shades of Feminism

Erotic juggernaut is not the end of equality or morals

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• The Fifty Shades of Grey movie trailer debuted recently, and as it turns out, when it comes to opinions about BDSM erotica, no one is vanilla.
• Tags: Opinion

Elegy for a School Year

The end of the year brings emotional reflection

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• I ended another year of teaching recently. I sat through the graduation ceremony on the football field in my own college-graduation robes, cringing and laughing as the senior class presidency stumbled through commencement speeches both hopeful and hopelessly naïve.

Man's World

It’s Elliot Rodger’s world. We just die in it.

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• I can’t stop thinking about Elliot Rodger, the California college student who killed six people and then himself as an act of “retribution” toward the women who rejected him romantically.

You’re Right, I’m Wrong

Sometimes our passion brings out the worst in us

• By Stephanie Lauritzen
• When teaching, I love class discussions. Conversations make it easy to see which students are engaged and learning, while being one of the most practical aspects of the English curriculum.