[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 […]
Featured
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
Love Us, Love Our Teacher Eccentricities
Teachers are weird creatures. We wear so many hats and flip back and forth so many times during a day that it can leave people we encounter wondering what kind of alien being has overtaken our bodies. Think about it: we save the most random stuff, come up with ideas off the tops of our […]
Posted inAdult Learning, Current Events in Education, Featured, High School, Opinion
What to Consider when Tragedy Occurs during the School Year
Here in south Louisiana, we are recovering. The Cajuns are a strong, passionate people, and I assure you, we will come back stronger than ever. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. In the midst of tragedy, we discover who we are and what we believe, and we choose to believe in humanity and […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Twain's Satire in "Advice to Youth" Speech
Students have  regular exposure to forms of mockery, ridicule, derision, scorn, or caricature on social media, on TV, on film, or Youtube, yet many still do not understand satire. Despite living in an atmosphere saturated 24/7 with “humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule that exposes and criticizes people’s stupidity or vices,” when students read satire, they say they just don’t “get it.” Perhaps […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Series, Teacher Leaders
How to Own the Leadership of Your Classroom: Craft a Vision
It’s no secret that teacher burnout is a problem. A commonly cited statistic is that as many as half of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. As retention of teachers gains attention in policy circles, teacher leadership has emerged as one possible solution. Generally teacher leadership means an opportunity to extend a […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize Speech-"the Word is with Men"
[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”] When American authors are studied in the secondary English Language Arts classroom for their short stories and their novels, John Steinbeck is usually featured. Students, however, may not have read a […]
Posted inFeatured, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
Make Leading Productive Math Discussions a Cinch!
Can you remember a time when you asked a question during math class, intending to start a productive math discussion on a topic you went over as a class, and noticed that you only saw the hands of your frequent contributors? What do you do when only 15% of your class actually contributes to the […]
Posted inAdult Learning, Ask a Teacher, Current Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Opinion, Uncategorized
What's More Important: A Degree Or Experience?
Several districts in Kansas have decided to employ non-certified teachers to place in classrooms. I am torn between thoughts on this being wrong or right. The educated teacher in me says no way! Teachers who are responsible for the education of others should be educated themselves. They should go through the ropes of being disciplined […]