Theodor Seuss Geisel is known in classrooms, libraries and by elementary age children for his fun and crazy books. There is a special language he developed, perfected and used to engage children in reading. From his first book, “And To Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street” to his ever popular “Cat in the Hat” […]
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Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Literacy, Social Studies, The Unemployed Teacher
High Schools Need Dr. Seuss Time
Normally March 2nd would pass without notice but this year I am embracing the 109th birthday celebration of Dr. Seuss in my high school classroom. Seuss is ageless and timeless. Many elementary school teachers and children’s librarians have embraced Read Across America’s promotion of “grab your hat and read with the cat” but high schools […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
7 Picture Books for Earth Day That Aren’t The Lorax
Each year on Earth Day elementary school teachers across the U.S. pull out The Lorax and other tried and true read-alouds. Many elementary teachers – a group that is disproportionately white women – tend to gravitate towards the books they grew up with. This is a problem. And while there’s nothing wrong with the environmental […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
MCAS Whitehead Test Prompt-What Were They Thinking?
Lawyers often quote the adage, “Never ask a witness a question unless you know the answer.” That wisdom should have been shared with officials from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) who were forced to remove a test prompt question from the 2019 state standardized test because of complaints by Boston school […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Using Banned Books to Teach Resistance
Guest Post By Elena Heglund What might The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, all have in common? This […]
Posted inUncategorized
Tests aren’t Best
I don’t know kids but I like tests to know more about kids I think tests are best (The anonymous corporate reformer who ate Dr. Seuss) Tests are preparing to descend upon us. The are being discussed in training, warnings, plannings… But once in a while you get to be with colleagues and plan […]
Posted inUncategorized
Tests aren't Best
I don’t know kids but I like tests to know more about kids I think tests are best (The anonymous corporate reformer who ate Dr. Seuss) Tests are preparing to descend upon us. The are being discussed in training, warnings, plannings… But once in a while you get to be with colleagues and plan […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, Opinion
School VALUES, not “Standards”
Let’s start talking about shared core values, not common standards, please. My colleagues, my students, their parents, my own children… none of them are “common” or “standard.” This sentiment isn’t new to anyone who is serious about education and has done it for any length of time, or to anyone who has children of their […]