This article is published simultaneously with its partner article, “What Bothers Me About Public Schools“ Let me preface this article by saying that I am in no way, shape, or form opposed to private or charter schools. There’s a school for every child on this planet, and for some students, it’s not a public […]
Current Events in Education
What Bothers Me About Public Schools
This article is published simultaneously with its partner article, “What Frustrates Me about Non-Public Schools.” As a teacher who will never say “I’ve seen or heard it all,” I have become disenchanted with public schools, especially in Oklahoma. I feel that our schools, overall, do a severe injustice to our students by not providing […]
Study Your Students (Charter School Diaries #11)
Week 3/18 – 3/22 Educators can be some of the most rigid people in a school. Many educators believe that the schoolhouse is simply for kids to come prepared to learn and that they should only do just that; students are to be well behaved, fed, rested and prepared to learn. Unfortunately, that is not […]
What Are We Assessing? (Charter School Diaries # 10)
Week 3/11 – 3/15 One of the things that I love doing as a teacher, to keep my students focused on reading their notes from class when at home, is giving pop quizzes in class. My kids hate it… I hated it as a student, but I understand the purpose and I do it often. […]
"Why I Hate High School"
In a dynamic change from the usual session at a conference, on the second day of ASCD 2013 in Chicago, one of the sessions was hosted not by a group of educators, but by students themselves. In “Why I Hate High School,” a five-student panel, moderated by Mickey Revenaugh, of Connections Education, shared how moving […]
A Day in the Life of a Parent of A Virtual Charter School!
With two children currently attending a virtual charter school, the days can run together very easily. The basic schedule of the day tends to run something like this: Wake up Get Breakfast Start school work Get lunch Complete school work Rest of day’s activities (scouts, karate, etc) Generally, there is no set schedule unless the […]
What We Forgot From School
My improv troupe has been going through a time of transition. When I came back this summer after my school hiatus, there were a lot of new faces and a few old ones – and things had changed, not necessarily for the better. Every group goes through highs and lows. The first time I was […]
"A Walk in the Woods" – A Great Choice for High School Non-Fiction
There is not enough non-fiction reading assigned in high schools. There are textbooks and fiction, mostly assigned by English Departments, but there is a dearth of good non-fiction texts offered to students. However, there is one safe text to assign, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods first published in 1998. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” […]
