Dear Oklahoma Legislators, Let me start by saying I love my job. I was made to be a teacher. I teach special education in the Moore district. I am not complaining about my job or all it entails. However, I want to give you a glimpse into what I did TODAY. And mind you every […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
What Schools Can Learn From Starbucks: Close Public Schools for Racial Bias Training Too
On May 29th, Starbucks will close 8,000 of its stores for racial bias training. This is a response to the arrest of two Black men who were waiting to meet a friend at a location in Philadelphia. It made me wonder, what would it take to close public schools for a similar effort? If an […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
The Blame Game- Teacher Shaming Has to Stop!
Can I start by saying that I am really angry? Really. Angry! The State of Florida has given us so many examples of “what not to do” this month. While gearing up for the end of the year should be a joyous time, instead teachers in one school district are taking the full blame for student […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Are Elementary Teachers Jacks of All Trades or Masters of None?
Recently, I was facilitating a discussion with high school teachers about Kylene Beers book When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers Can Do – A Guide for Teachers 6-12. In chapter four, Beers explained that one of her students did not understand how to find the main idea and that she did not do a good […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Test Scores > Hungry Kids? PA Teacher Fired for Making Pancakes
Welcome to 2018, where schools are permitted to hold pep rallies for students to “get them excited” about standardized tests (like that ever worked!?), but if a teacher makes his students – 95% of whom are free and reduced lunch – pancakes during the tests, that leads to him being fired. Seriously. This isn’t an […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
10 Things Teachers DID NOT Have to Deal With 10 Years Ago
Something is wrong—very, very wrong. Teachers across the country at all grade levels, in all subjects, teaching a wide variety of student populations, can sense it. There is a pulse of dysfunction, a steady palpitation of doom that the path we are on is not properly oriented. There is a raw and amorphous anxiety creeping […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
The State of the Teacher Union
As teachers organize in protest across the nation, the Supreme Court is preparing to release a decision that could change laws governing teacher unions. In March, the highest court in the land heard oral arguments for Janus v. AFSCME and plans to issue a decision on this landmark case this summer. Mark Janus is an […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
The Importance of the 2018 Mid-Term Elections: A Teacher’s Perspective
American democracy is at a crossroads. In November of this year, the American electorate will go to the polls to decide which party should control the Congress of the United States and set policy on the federal level. Majorities in many state legislatures and governorships across the nation will also be decided. As it stands […]