Eleanor Dougherty’s Assignments Matter is a great book. Assignments make up a bulk of what teachers do, and probably take for granted. We give assignments because that’s what teachers do. Dougherty shows that just giving assignments is not enough. She encourages teachers to analyze the process so they are choosing assignments that provide an authentic […]
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Opinion, Uncategorized
Common Core Should Share Common Language
[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”] A visitor walking into a school encounters the school’s mission statement on a banner or etched on a plaque, or painted on to the wall. The mission statement defines the school’s […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Current Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Principals' Corner
Charter School Diaries # 6 – Turning off the Cruise Control
This week was an abbreviated one. Unfortunately, I was only in school for three days (Wednesday through Friday), but the week was no less compelling. Personally, I think that fire drills are outdated, yet we actually had a small emergency where a fire drill was warranted this week. We also had an incident where a […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, Featured, Opinion, Uncategorized
Helping Teachers- Why Wait?
This is a cross-post from EdGator.com. If there was ever a time when public education needed defenders, it’s now. If there was a day when teachers needed support, it’s today. The great American experiment of a free public education for all children—rich and poor, black and white, fluent y todavia aprendiendo, children like yours and […]
Posted inBook Review, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
How Readicide Has Changed My Teaching and Purchasing Practices
Readicide is defined as, “the systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices often found in schools.” I fear I was a Readicide practitioner in my early years of teaching, but I am now trying to recover and adopt practices suggested in Kelly Gallagher’s book Readicide. Gallagher points to a crisis […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, How to Fix Education, Kindergarten, Opinion, School Improvement, Uncategorized
The Bandaid of Efficiency
This is a cross-post from EdGator.com. [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”] Argumentation today consists of little more than two people taking turns misrepresenting one another’s positions. Gone are the days of Socrates, when the point of […]
Posted inOpinion
Being a Mother and a Teacher: Is it an impossible combination?
Parents, for the past 9 years, I have been a full-time mother, wife, teacher, student, psychologist, therapist, maid, taxi driver, personal planner, party planner, reminder service caller (is there such a thing?), etc. The list goes on and on. There is not a minute in the day when I am free to do what I […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, Principals' Corner
Hold that Intercom! Interruptions are Educationally Costly
The crackle of the speaker..and then the voice. Twenty-six ninth grade brains stop working on the task at hand. They wait for the name. “Jane Doe report to the office.” The 26 ninth grade students either: A. dismiss the announcement entirely and try to get back to work; B. snicker quietly to themselves because they […]