It’s three weeks into virtual teaching, and I’m already tired of the first unit on Economic Theory. Being a few days behind coupled with the fact that the next unit on Personal Finance is far more exciting and interesting, I’m just going to give the unit 1 test on Economic Theory this week. In the […]
COVID-19
Posted inBack to School
Teachers Have Been Betrayed…Now is the Time to Vote
In the last sixty days, the world has exploded into the people who believe schools should start back immediately and the ones who say that during a pandemic schools can wait and at most continue virtually. There have been ferocious Facebook battles between both sides on social media and impassioned pleas in virtual school board […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Poker and Passion: An Education to Live For
“So, floating and bluffing are pretty much the same thing.” My ears perked up in surprise that my wife was eavesdropping on world-renown poker player, Phil Ivey. She continued, “You float to bluff and bluff to float. Isn’t he talking in circles?” Although dumbfounded that my wife was listening while I watched Phil Ivey’s MasterClass, […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Was Someone Actually High When They Proposed The Hybrid Teaching Model?
The dark circles under my eyes have returned. The fatigue is deep and familiar–it feels like January tired. And, today is only my third day of teaching in the hybrid model! My husband asked me how the first day went. I replied: “It was not my best opening day.” On the first day, I taught sans […]
Posted inCOVID
Betsy Devos Need to Spend More Time In Real Schools with Real Teachers
Secretary of Education Betsy Devos needs to know more about real schools and real teachers. Hell, just real people would be good. In calling for enforcement of standardized testing policies in public schools, during a public health crisis, she once again reveals a lack of connection to the lived reality of the victims of […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Teaching in 2020: Where Everyone Gets a Choice, Except Teachers
As we continue to grapple with the changes that are impacting our communities, school reopening plans are at the forefront of most conversations. It is not hard to recognize that most everyone is flying by the seat of their pants as decisions are made and unmade with little notice. The issue of schools reopening continues […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
How School Boards Became the Most Important People You Never Voted For
There’s a number I can’t get out of my head: 20%. As folks affix their Trump and Biden signs in their yards and argue precipitously over politics with their neighbors, claiming how this is the “most important election of their lives” and how the other guy will “ruin America,” I’m still thinking about that number. […]
Posted inBack to School
Finding Your Light in the Dark: Positivity During Pandemic Teaching
There are seven portables in a horseshoe shape around a patch of overgrown grass and two basketball courts with chain-link nets. Approaching the front gate, there are students checking in with security who say hello to me as I pass by. In the first portable is the front office, I spend my mornings here chatting […]