[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”] As I get older, I see the value in the adage, “There is wisdom in numbers.” I catch myself more often than not running ideas and proposals by colleagues and friends […]
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Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Parents, Special Education
Misunderstood: A Mother’s Plea to Educators About Asperger’s (Part Two)
In part one of this series, I shared my story as a mother to a son with Asperger’s Syndrome and my “wish list” for educators who work with such students. Although I am a teacher, my training in working with Asperger’s children was on the job experience, as my now almost twenty-year-old son has struggled his […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
Dealing With Entitlement
[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”] I just got back from picking up the durable medical supplies that my mom lost in the tornado. It’s been a little over a month since two terrible storms ravaged my […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Dear Common Core: Science Supports Reading Fiction
[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”] English teachers are seduced by literature. We fell in love with an author’s language, a fascinating plot turn, or a well-developed character, and we are bold in our love. While students may roll […]
Posted inFeatured, Legal
Supreme Court Rules on Affirmative Action Case
[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”] On Monday, June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas, the higher education affirmative action case. I previously wrote about affirmative action and […]
Posted inBook Review, Featured
Authentic Evaluations Will Improve our Profession – A Book Review
Teacher Evaluation That Makes a Difference: A New Model for Teacher Growth and Student Achievement By: Robert J. Marzano and Michael D. Toth Published by ASCD, 2013 [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 the last […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, Literacy
Up, Up, My Friend…and Quit Your Close Reading!
The Common Core Literacy Standards encourage “close reading”, the careful inspection of a text for analysis, but I believe that the British poet William Wordsworth offers his sly opinion on that practice in one of his poems The Tables Turned. The poem is a plea to the reader to throw down the books with poems […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines
NYC Regents Exam Scoring: Technology Does Not Win the Day
These past two weeks I had the opportunity to score the essays for the New York State English Regents. For those of who are not familiar, the Regents are cumulative standardized exams that all high school students must pass in order to graduate in New York State. There are Regents for every subject area. I […]