It’s testing season In New York, the state tests are here. Technically speaking the ELA tests have gone by already, other than make-ups that need to still happen. The math 3-8 exams are still to come, and in the tiny rural school system I teach in these tests are all taken seriously by the teachers. […]
Current Events in Education
Posted inSpecial Education
Sesame Street’s Julia: Changing the Way We See Autism
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” This quote from women’s rights advocate and cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead – could also be Sesame Street’s mission statement. Since its premiere on November 10, 1969, Sesame Street has brought the fundamentals […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, From the Front Lines, School Improvement, Teacher Leaders
Watch from the Balcony, Lead on the Floor
School administrators spend most of their time on the dance floor, making tactical decisions; putting out fires, dealing with discipline and making sure the buses are running on time. On occasion, administrators have the opportunity to engage in professional learning. This learning is often focused on the ‘balcony view’ of leadership; strategy, rather than tactics. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Yes, Failure IS An Option
We’d be hard pressed to find an innovation that has changed our modern living as much as the light bulb. When Thomas Edison and his employees experimented with methods to bring about an incandescent light, they finally arrived – almost by accident – on using a cardboard filament. After its success, he famously quipped “I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Budget Cuts? Don’t Take It Out On The Teachers – Or The Students
I spent the day today working with professional educators. This group of experienced teachers gathered to learn more about mentoring those just entering our profession. Technically, we’re there to participate in the California teacher credentialing program, which requires beginning teachers to partner with experienced support providers. But while I was sitting there, learning about learning-focused […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Why Engaging Students with Politics is Worthwhile
One of my friends approached me last week while at church. Now an administrator, he was a teacher who taught at Dover High School at the height of the ‘intelligent design’ debate, where a school board wanted it taught instead of the theory of evolution. He taught biology, nonetheless. In initiating the conversation, he said, “I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teaching Empathy with Concrete Examples
“They just want to sleep in their own bed” The first 50-plus days of Donald Trump’s presidency have provoked an intense mixture of anxiety, fear, anger, and urgency for many Americans. As the great-grandson of immigrants who fled anti-Semitic pogroms in Eastern Europe, it’s heartbreaking to see our president close the country’s doors to refugees and […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Ways To Discover if ‘Fake News’ is Actually Fake News
Journalists are vital in making sure that a democratic country stays democratic. They are tasked at keeping the establishment accountable for the people in order to avoid a corrupt government, and for the people to make logical and rational political decisions. There is no other profession mentioned in the United States Constitution because the Founders […]