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 […]
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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 […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Uncategorized
The Conspiracy Against Public Education
It began innocently enough. I read a headline…just a headline…about Texas governor Greg Abbott appointing Republican State Board of Education member Donna Bahorich as President of the Board. Bahorich is a Christian extremist who home-schooled her children, and despite the fact that 94% of Texas children go to public school, apparently Abbott feels that this […]
Posted inFeatured, Formative Assessments, Instruction & Curriculum
Formative Assessments: Success Criteria
This series is about using formative assessment in your classroom. Many teachers use this practice daily to know where students are and move them forward in learning. There are tools, however, that can strengthen the formative assessment you are doing in your classroom to meet the needs of all students you teach. The first tool, discussed […]
Posted inChild Development, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Mathematics
Making Time and Money Concepts Stick
One of the most challenging concepts to teach younger children is time and money. Think about how confusing it is to their little minds: we spend all this time teaching them the worth of pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters, then switch to a clock that is split into quarters that do not equal the 25 […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, How to Fix Education, Professional Development
It is Not Easy to be a Change Agent in Education
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein [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 will say it: it is difficult to be […]