Summer slide. Summer brain drain. All teachers know what it is no matter what you call it. Students forget over the summer. Math and reading skills will fall by the wayside no matter where you teach. How much the students lose does depend on where you teach. The lower the average income of the parents […]
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Posted inAsk a Teacher, Featured, Fine Arts, From the Front Lines
Museum Education: Yes, I Get Paid For This!
[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”] A wild, crazy year is finally wrapping up in the NYC museum education scene. Post conference, post rush for field trips, post bus strike and post Sandy – we are all […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Middle School, Opinion, Parents
No End to the School Year for an Unschooling Child
The end of the school year — a time of celebration for students and teachers alike! For my son and I, it is a little different this year. This last year was his first school year as an unschooled kid. It has been quite a journey for us, and as I reflect on what we’ve […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Featured
Pissing them off for the Children’s Sake (Charter School Diaries #22)
Week 6/3 – 6/7 I am good at pissing people off. My maternal grandmother always said to me that my mouth would always get me in trouble. Well, my grandmother, God rest her soul, she was right. My mouth has gotten me in more trouble than I can remember. I have learned over the years […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Parents
Why Christopher Won’t Talk: Selective Mutism
Have you ever had a student in your class who did not talk? A student who never smiled, spoke out loud to you, to classmates, to anyone? A child who would not even whisper, gesture, laugh, or cry- not even at lunch or on the playground? If so, that child may have been more than […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Middle School, Opinion
Take a Moment to Stop – And Enjoy the End of the School Year!
“Hey Jake,” Bill, our school custodian, stopped me as I sped down the hallway with a list of things to accomplish, “did you see the beautiful, blooming dogwood out in front of the school?” “Yeah, it looks great,” I said as I shrugged him off in ways only busy teachers understand. “I’m serious man, come […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion
The Truth Behind the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal
By now the headlines have screamed about how teachers and administrators cheated in Atlanta Public Schools (APS) to falsify results from the CRCT exams in elementary and middle schools. As a teacher who worked in APS for several years, these headlines literally make my stomach turn. Despite the claims about answer changing parties, administrators who […]
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Opinion
When Teachers Need to Be More Than Teachers
Teaching in an inner city school has afforded me the opportunity to interact with many different types of students. All of these students have taught, and continue to teach me different life lessons on a daily basis. Sometimes what you learn about the students can be quite sad. When I first began teaching I was […]