The National Council for Social Studies had its 96th annual conference this past week in Washington, DC. Like the NEA’s Representative Assembly, the assembly is held in the nation’s capital during election years. It marked my first in attendance. Being from central Pennsylvania, I’m fortunate enough to be able to drive to the District of […]
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Posted inSchool Improvement
TEDTalk: Help for Kids the Education System Forgets
One of the best TED Talks I’ve seen in a while was by Victor Rios, a sociology professor at the University of California. The segment, titled “Help for kids the education system ignores” was poignant, direct, and necessary. His speech highlighted how some of our neediest students are falling through the cracks, and what our mandate – as […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Retire Right: 10 Steps to Turning Off the Classroom Lights for Good
I remember the first week I was hired quite well. There was so much going on – I had a curriculum to write, seating charts to generate, copies to make, people to meet, programs to learn, and decorations to hang. The to-do list truly was endless. Thankfully, one of the veteran teachers came into my […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Back in School: Pre-Game
The anxiety dreams have begun. I have several, but here’s the basic plot of my most frequent night-terror: Some how it went unnoticed that I didn’t have enough credits to graduate from high school (in 1985) . . . a fact that was missed by my undergraduate college and the four subsequent graduate institutions which […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Can Public Schools Survive the Era of School Choice?
Last week Betsy DeVos was tapped as the Secretary of Education by the incoming Trump administration. Now many educators in traditional public schools are cringing and bracing for the worst because DeVos is known in Michigan for her support of school vouchers and charter schools, often called “school choice.” The charter school topic can be a very […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
No Right to an Education: Detroit Schools and the Secretary of Education Nominee
In September 2016, seven students in the Detroit school system filed a lawsuit against Michigan governor Rick Snyder and other state education officials. In their complaint, the students allege that over the last several decades, there has been systematic disinvestment in and “deliberate indifference” to the Detroit schools, which has fundamentally denied Detroit school children […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
What Happens When the Teacher is the Bully?
As an educator, I am duty bound to ensure that all my students not only learn but are educated in an environment that is conducive to that learning. This means creating a space for creativity, critical thinking, and risk taking; a space where opinions are varied but respect is consistent; a space where students are […]
Posted inFeatured
15 Things My Toddler Taught Me This Year
A few weeks after my son was born in November 2015, I began waxing nostalgic. I had spent a lifetime and a career working with and teaching other people’s children – and now it was time for me to teach him. Or so I thought. Within a couple of weeks, I had picked up the […]