By Guest Writer: Holly Winter When asking a class of middle school students to write about success, one girl wrote: “My mother was successful at smoking crack and my father was successful at getting himself murdered.” Her statements bring the ideas of success into focus. This student isn’t in jail, on drugs, and she doesn’t have a group […]
Current Events in Education
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Educational Apps, Featured, Special Education, Technology
iPhones in the Classroom are Game Changers
Dyslexic Students Becoming Independent with Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac Devices Imagine constantly being presented with the printed word and not able to read it. Imagine being in class listening to the teacher, actively participating in class discussions, but then the teacher hands out a worksheet that you can’t read. Imagine the frustration of knowing […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Opinion, Uncategorized
Manifestation Meetings: Have You Experienced One?
I recently had a crash course in what is called ‘Manifestation Determination’ or ‘Manifestation Meetings’. I had never heard of these until this week. Now mind you, I am by no means a special education teacher, nor do I claim to know much about all of the forms and paperwork that these saints endure. I […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Opinion
It's Not a Rotten Education: Response to TIME Magazine
I have taught in elementary classrooms for 19 years. Every day, every hour, ever minute, every second, decisions are made that impact someone’s future. This job is difficult, strenuous, stressful and the best job in the world. Teachers across the nation give their times, talents, money and whole selves to their students and families. It […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Professional Development, Teacher Branding
Teacher Branding Advice for School Districts: Make Your Teachers Happy
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, I worked in a district where the majority of teachers were unhappy-unhappy to the point of downright disgust. Almost every employee I saw walk into a school building there was a smirk followed by a frown and immediately followed up with a collective eye roll. Teachers […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Uncategorized
Philadelphia Teachers Contract Cancelled
In my article “Teacher Activism,” I explained the background of the takeover of the School District of Philadelphia by the state of Pennsylvania. The District is still under the control of the School Reform Commission (SRC) which is not elected nor does it have any taxing power. Until 2013 the SRC managed to negotiate contracts with […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Opinion, Parents
What Is The Most Important Thing A Teacher Can Ever Do?
“To be endowed with a benevolent disposition, and to love others, will almost infallibly procure love and esteem; which is the chief circumstance in life, and facilitates every enterprise and undertaking; besides the satisfaction, which immediately results from it.” — David Hume, “Of Impudence and Modesty” My youngest daughter, Emma Kate, was born two months […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Professional Development
Sparking Class Discussions with One Simple Question
Guest Writer: Arpine Ovsepyan, M.A. “What did you learn in class today?” This is a simple question that helps open the door for thought-provoking classroom discussions, serves as a formative assessment, and provides closure to a lesson. For a little over two years, I have made the commitment to never end a class without asking […]