Have you ever had a student in your class who did not talk? A student who never smiled, spoke out loud to you, to classmates, to anyone? A child who would not even whisper, gesture, laugh, or cry- not even at lunch or on the playground? If so, that child may have been more than […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy
Summer Reading: The 50/50 Paradox
The paradox of summer reading: Read=pleasure or Read=work. All students should read at least one book this summer. Students should practice the independent reading skills they have used the whole school year. They should receive credit for reading over the summer, but to give credit means an assessment. An assessment comes dangerously close to committing Readicide,(n): The systematic killing […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Middle School, Opinion
Take a Moment to Stop – And Enjoy the End of the School Year!
“Hey Jake,” Bill, our school custodian, stopped me as I sped down the hallway with a list of things to accomplish, “did you see the beautiful, blooming dogwood out in front of the school?” “Yeah, it looks great,” I said as I shrugged him off in ways only busy teachers understand. “I’m serious man, come […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion
The Truth Behind the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal
By now the headlines have screamed about how teachers and administrators cheated in Atlanta Public Schools (APS) to falsify results from the CRCT exams in elementary and middle schools. As a teacher who worked in APS for several years, these headlines literally make my stomach turn. Despite the claims about answer changing parties, administrators who […]
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Opinion
When Teachers Need to Be More Than Teachers
Teaching in an inner city school has afforded me the opportunity to interact with many different types of students. All of these students have taught, and continue to teach me different life lessons on a daily basis. Sometimes what you learn about the students can be quite sad. When I first began teaching I was […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Uncategorized
A 9-year old Student Speaks Truth to Power About the Chicago School Closings
[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”] In an historic, unprecedented move, the third largest school district in the United States has experienced an impressively harsh blow to its students, teachers, and parents: the Chicago Board of Education […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Uncategorized
I Like the Idea of the Common Core Standards, But…
“The Common Core standards are not evil; however, the implementation and everything afterward is questionable.”These were the words of a teacher in training I led about one of the founding tenets of the common core standards, text complexity. As soon as this fellow educator said those words, the discussion changed from text complexity, to how […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Featured
The Certification Blues (Charter School Diaries #21)
Week 5/28 – 5/31 I try not to complain much; I usually just go with the flow. But sometimes, when you take the “go with the flow” attitude, you sometimes can be taken advantage of or even disregarded. When I was first hired at my school, it was as an Educational Specialist with my teaching […]