“Bing Bong.” Thirty years from now when I hear the sound of someone entering a Zoom room, I’ll have vivid memories of just how much I loved, hated, and loved about online learning through this platform. LOVE – Seeing my students Just about every day, I’m checking in with my students and seeing their faces. […]
Current Events in Education
Posted inCOVID-19
Let the Pandemic be the Mother of Innovation in Schools
The school year is winding down and the states are opening up. Some people are wondering how this summer is going to shape up. Will we be traveling? Having backyard barbecues? Going to the beach? Will we see a resurgence of COVID 19? Educators (and parents), however, are looking toward the fall. Will schools reopen? […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Standards-Based Grading Must Die
For those unaware, standards-based grading is a popular evaluation system designed to simplify teaching, learning, and assessment. It strips a student’s grade down to their ability to meet the announced standards. The idea is that students will learn more easily if teachers grade based upon very explicit and clear standards. Moreover, by standardizing the grading […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Opinion: Right Now Things Are Hard, But It’s Going to Be Fine
Right now, things are hard. Nothing feels fine, or normal. As we all know, teaching in person is different than teaching online. There are many things that we as educators are dealing with right now. How do we ensure that our students are learning, when there are some students without the ability to attend online […]
Posted inCOVID
Opinion: Teacher Tribes, Now More Important Than Ever
by Elizabeth Schreidber M.Ed. Isolation, self-doubt, insecurity, fear, fatigue, depression, loneliness, anxiety, insomnia, stress, disconnect, disinterest, sorrow, lethargy, grief, frustration, irritability, distress, the list goes on and on. Welcome to COVID-19 distance learning. As teachers we discuss regularly how our students and families are experiencing each of these emotions, we take it on as the […]
Posted inCoronavirus
I Can’t Get Ahold of My Students: Tools for Maintaining Relationships with Students During Distance Learning
Teachers around the world are missing their students. We miss being in the classroom and getting to connect with real students in real-time. Every district has its own plan for when they will return to classes and some are even going back sooner rather than later. But what do we do during this time to […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Pandemic Movie Choice: Bad Education: A Movie Review
“It’s not having what you want,” quips Roslyn Assistant Superintendent Pam Gluckin in her Long Island accent, “it’s wanting what you got.” And what educators got from HBO’s Bad Education was a harrowing detail of a pair of school administrators gone rogue with the school district’s treasury, sacking $11.2 million before they were caught… by […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Urban Districts Warn That 275,000 Teacher Jobs Could Be At Risk Due to COVID-19
In an unprecedented move, the Council of Greater City schools drafted a letter asking Congress for emergency funding of $200+ billion for the upcoming school year. Without this aid, the group says that an estimated 275,000 teachers may lose their jobs due to a combined loss in state and local revenues in large, city school […]