Last June, radio station WBEZ in Chicago discovered that Chicago Public Schools had been misrepresenting the number of high school dropouts. The investigation conducted by WBEZ discovered that over 2000 students were counted as “transferred” students when they’d actually dropped out. The story might have been local, but the issue is not. [bctt tweet=”Around the […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Opinion
The Perils of the United States of Smug
I make my living by teaching politics to high school seniors and college students. I am not a “read-the-textbook” kind of teacher. I want my students to watch the news. I want them to read political biographies. I want them to watch the complete seven seasons of The West Wing. Of course, few of them […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Making Connections in Reading
Readers process text in many ways to make sense of what they are reading. There are proven strategies strong readers use to help comprehend and process text. For the first six weeks of school my fourth graders have been practicing making connections. This skill involves using the text in the story or article to connect to your […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured
The Troubling Timing of the Tenure Debate
Though Presidential candidate Gov. Scott Walker announced a little more than two weeks ago he would be suspending his presidential campaign, two of his political policies became subjects of national attention. The first was building a wall on the US/Canadian Border, considered ridiculous even by his GOP counterparts; the second, a legislative attack on the […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
Thoughts on Grading Part 2: The Grading Scale
Fairness is a battle that is fought in everywhere in the United States. As teachers, we teach about fairness and the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Being aware of bias and unfair situations in the classroom is something I always strive to be aware of and I hope to bring awareness […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
The Problem of the Chronically Absent Student
It’s not even a month into the school year and already it’s clear that my 7th period has a problem. Overall, they seem like a nice group of kids. They participate, they ask questions, and they are pretty easy to redirect if we get off task…but still, there is a problem. The problem is that […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
[Episode 7] The Pushy Parent
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Posted inElementary School, Featured, Opinion
What If You Couldn't!? — Shifting our Thinking about Teaching
Going into the classroom to finish up the second decade of my career I still learn. My room and my style are different from that first class 19 years ago, but the philosophy behind what I do has not changed. I believe in active learning. I believe in appreciating differences. I believe every child has […]