As adults in a time of crisis, we turn to familiar sources. I find myself these days interested in the efforts of South Korea, in the singing balconies of Italy, and in the ways in which different nations have dealt with the virus. It helps me to interpret what is happening around me, and what […]
Thomas Courtney
Thomas Courtney is a senior policy fellow with Teach Plus, a member of Edsource's Advisory Committee, and author of many articles on educational curriculum and policy. He is also a fifth-grade teacher, guide teacher, and father of a child at a Title 1 school in southeast San Diego.
Posted inOpinion
Dear Betsy, Thanks for the Memories
Dear Betsy, I heard you resigned today because of all the bad things the president said at his insurrection party. You just finally had enough, huh? Hey don’t worry, I agree with you. It wasn’t pretty. My students think so too. In fact, we didn’t like Trump’s rhetoric either. I guess we just noticed […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
A Canary in the Coal Mine: The Truth We Need to Remember Post-Pandemic About Virtual Schooling
Education these days feels a bit like science fiction, doesn’t it? When I think of my students and my own daughter learning virtually, I wonder if anyone else is remembering Keanu Reeves’ character Neo in The Matrix? If you aren’t much into the science fiction genre, just picture a man plugged into a computer while […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Building a Plane While Flying, Lessons Learned from a Hybrid Teacher and His Student Teacher
In our district, it has become obvious that a return to what school once was will now come in phases. And that means an interim period where we are, as my principal recently remarked, building a plane while also flying it. My student teacher and I departed that flight in phase one of our district’s […]
Posted inCOVID-19
How Reverse Halloween Helped My Students Feel Connected to Me As Their Teacher
If I’m being honest, not everyone understood the concept of reversing Halloween at first. But I was convinced the theory was sound. And perhaps because I’ve known how disconnected my own daughter feels, I’ve tried to find creative ways to connect with families. I’ve formed friendships with dogs, left a lot of things on doorsteps. […]
Posted inCoronavirus
A Final Lesson For Us All in Propaganda as a Teacher
Recently, a teacher in Paris named Samuel Paty was beheaded after giving a lesson on the importance of freedom of thought. With all going on in the news these days, I barely noticed it at first. Yet, as I wrote recently, a dangerous ideology that subverts free and intellectual discourse is growing and making inroads […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Mentoring: It’s Time To Rethink Para-Educators
Mentoring. Recently, several articles have appeared suggested mentoring may be a way to help with the academic loss that educators are calling the “covid slide”. That’s abuzz too, and for good reason. But I’m just as concerned, if not more so, about Natasha, who even in class is so incredibly shy that she can barely […]
Posted inAdult Learning
Mr. Rogers Was a Genius, Virtual Learning Showed Me How
By Thomas Courtney When I was a child, Mr. Rogers taught me how I was a part of my community through the magic of TV. Mr. Rogers would take us to the post office to see how mail was sorted. He would take us to a factory to see how things like tomatoes were canned […]