“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” stammered The Great and Powerful Oz upon his discovery in 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. Oz ran the dream city as an ordinary man, yet was seen as all-powerful by his city. But when the curtain was pulled back the real conversations began. Teachers today do more […]
Current Events in Education
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured
A Profession Dependent on the Generosity of its own Employees
This week begins the 4th Annual RedditGifts for the Teachers. While the website reddit.com is often in the news for its more controversial communities, it is a vast discussion site that hosts thousands of independent conversations. One thing it is best known for are its organized gift exchanges in which tens of thousands of people around […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Principals' Corner
A Career in Crisis
I recently made a major life decision. Instead of returning to the classroom as a teacher, I am selling my nice condo in a glam neighborhood to move into something in a safe but less expensive neighborhood. I left the classroom three years ago to write a book and pursue other avenues. I had thought […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured
Testing, 1, 2, 3…Testing…
I think it is important to stay informed and read information about education and learning. The only way to grow is to read about things you are not doing and things you may not agree with on the surface. I have been following a blog on parents opting out of testing. I did not go into […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Uncategorized
SPED Students – Where Do They Belong?
I’ve always been a proponent of inclusion in the regular education classroom. I say this from experience. Before it became common place I accepted SPED students into my classroom. You see at the time, Philadelphia would not allow a SPED student to “mainstream” in high school unless they could prove that they could function in […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Current Events in Education, From the Front Lines, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Stolen Pens and Broken Tape: How to Create Boundaries in Classrooms
One day, I walked into my classroom to discover I had less pencils than the day before. I hadn’t given any out, so this made no sense. Then I found a broken white-out tape dispenser hidden among my things. I sighed and put things in my desk that I didn’t want taken. A few days […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Literacy, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Instructional Coaching 101: You’ve Just Been Hired, Now What?
As I sat at my desk and fumed all I could say to myself was, “I did not sign up for this. This is not how you treat others!” The longer I repeated those words the angrier I became and before long I was hurriedly typing away an email to my principal about my interaction with that […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Uncategorized
Who is Making Educational Decisions?
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] In all of the debate about Common Core and its related testing we are missing the real problem facing teachers and parents today. That problem is the placing of educational decisions […]