This article originally appeared on Bluff City Education on September 30th, 2014 This past week the Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation and Development at Vanderbilt released the results of their 2014 First to the Top Survey of Tennessee Public School Teachers. Notably, their survey data revealed declining support  among teachers for the Common Core State […]
Jon Alfuth
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Shifting Our Mindset Around Teacher Evaluations
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] During my first two years teaching I have to admit that I often thought of myself as a bad teacher. But fortunately I had an incredible mentor in my instructional facilitator, […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education, Recruitment & Retention, Series, Uncategorized
A Profession for My Generation
This op-ed originally appeared in the Memphis-based Commercial Appeal on August 3rd, 2014: I have a confession: Halfway through my second year of teaching, I was questioning whether teaching was really the right career for me. I was putting in countless hours in my Memphis high school, but my progress as an educator felt much […]
Posted inCommon Core, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Uncategorized
The Difference Between Calculation and Mathematics
This piece originally ran on Bluffcityed.com on July 29, 2014; In mid-July last year, I was ready to try something completely different. I had previously taught Algebra I, but I was moving to a new content; geometry. I’d taught it before under the old Tennessee state standards but had left the course feeling like the kids […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured
Four Little Tips to Transform Your Classroom
This post was featured on Classroom Chronicle on Wednesday, July 23rd 2014 Another school year is almost upon us! Along with content, systems and management planning, thinking strategically about how you set up your classroom this year will boost student engagement and success all year long. How does classroom set up do this, you ask? […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Middle School, School Improvement, Uncategorized
Just the Facts: Charter High School Performance in Memphis, TN
My school has a strong data driven culture. We use data not just to identify grade level or class wide trends, but trends with individual students. Because it’s not enough for me to know that the entire class scored, say, an 80 percent on a specific assessment. I need to be able to identify high, […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Tennessee Education's Perception Problem
My 10th grade girls are all into HUGE purses, the size of backpacks. They can be very distracting as the girls rustle through the bag’s cavernous depths on a quest to find any and all manner of items. This spring I decided to institute what I thought was a fair and simple policy where purses would […]
Posted inCommon Core, School Improvement, Uncategorized
Irrational Fears Prevent Real Common Core Progress
Ashley is smart as a whip but often doubts her own abilities. When she first encounters a new math concept she always believes it’s going to be hard and fears attempting it. But with a little help she makes the attempt, and by the end of class I’m almost always rewarded by hearing her exclaim […]