Without change, we exist in a stagnant environment. Learning is about persistence, failure, and change. Each summer there are buzz words that emerge and ideas for teachers to think about. However, not everything fits into a neat little package. There is not one boxed program, method, or idea that will work in every classroom. Teaching […]
Current Events in Education
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Are Schools Perpetuating America’s Problems?
Nancy Easton, my pastor, began this week’s sermon (words / audio) with a clip from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. The man who graced public television from the late ’60s through the early millennium drew full attention from an equally diverse audience that was, at the least, aware of the impact of Fred Rogers, and, at most, daily childhood […]
Posted inOpinion
My AP Scores Were Disappointing. Now What?
I awoke at 5 AM on Tuesday morning to log into the College Board’s website and obtain this year’s AP results for my AP Government and Macroeconomics courses. I spied the remains of a patriotic-looking Americana chocolate cake sitting on my kitchen counter, safely wrapped in aluminum foil. I grabbed a fork and took a […]
Posted inFeatured
Educational Consultants..The Case for More Teachers
We’ve all been there. An educational consultant comes into your school for professional learning and all you get is a glorified PowerPoint Presentation full of strategies you’ve already used that don’t work. You leave the meeting angry that once again forty-five minutes of your time was wasted just to garble up a bunch of acronyms. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
4 Questions to Celebrate Your School Year
As I write this I’m seven school days away from summer vacation. At this time, I’m filled with the usual mixture of emotions. I’m excited to recharge and relax. I’m sad to be saying goodbye to my students, while wondering if I could have done more. I’m anxious for the next year, wondering how I […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
“I Wrote You a Sonnet, Instead” at the Intersection of Hip-Hop and Tragedy
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s gift to high school social studies teachers is Hamilton, his Pulitzer and Tony award winning play. Using musical theatre, he rescued history from the mind-numbing facts listed in textbooks and gave students an alternative narrative, a hip-hop lens to view the tumult of America’s creation. His gift to English teachers came on Sunday, June 12, during the Tony […]
Posted inFeatured
6 Ways for Teachers to Earn Some Extra Money From Home
It’s the summer and many teachers are thankful for a short break to recalibrate and refocus for the upcoming school year. We are no longer confined to using the restroom in under 30 seconds or eating lunch in 20 minutes. We have actual time to plan and execute our plans for the upcoming year. Despite […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Educators and “The Bully Pulpit”: Election 2016
“dope” “fat” “stupid” Those are “bullying” words that an educator in a school is trained to listen for and respond to in most states by law. In my State of Connecticut the law is specific and: “Requires that school personnel report, in a timely and responsive manner, incidents of bullying they witness or are aware of to […]