If you are like me you get very invested in your students in special education. So invested that it is difficult to release them to the next special education teacher. I teach kindergarten through third grade mild/moderate special education in a resource room, so some of my kids loop up with me the next year […]
High School
Posted inHigh School
Creating a Culture Supporting Achievement: Having fun in School!
By Jason Dobrow, PhD School is supposed to be fun! That is not a misprint, nor some pie in the sky ideal. While not every student will enjoy every school related task, overall school should be, and more importantly must be, fun for students. With high stakes testing, and the implementation of Common Core, the […]
Posted inAdult Learning
Civility in the Classroom and the Rise of American Fascism
Setting the Stage I am in a hotel room with three millennials: Grace, 24, Gabriel, 22, Glorie, 20. An argument is raging: How can I be civil with people who support evil? I know that’s harsh. Is your neighbor who voted for Trump evil? I’ll say no. But these young people are having none of it. […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Politics and Pedagogy of Immigration Policy
The national debate over the Trump Administration policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border has reached a fever pitch. Images and audio of crying children, traumatized by the removal of their parents to detention facilities while the children are detained in what amounts to cages, have preoccupied the national media and gripped […]
Posted inAdult Learning
2018: Reflections on a School Year
It’s the Saturday after the last day of school for teachers. I am turning 58 today. I just completed my 34th year as a social studies teacher. Tomorrow is Father’s Day. Looking back over the past year and over the arch of my career, I want to write about the struggles and successes of my […]
Posted inOpinion
Rat Infestations, Permanent Voice Damage, & Grieving In the Classroom : Reflections on the Absolute WORST YEAR of My Teaching Career
This has been the absolute worst year of my teaching career. By far . . . It started too early—much too early. Our teacher meetings began on August 14th. Whatever, you may ask fellow teachers, ever happened to the Tuesday after Labor Day serving as the year’s genesis? Anyone who has spent any time in […]
Posted inPodcast
[Season 1: Episode 4] Financial Aid-Saving
In Spring 2018, we launched our second podcast entitled, College and Coffee, hosted by Mike Dunn, a College and Career Counselor. Stay tuned for a season of information for parents, students, and other stakeholders. Season 1: The Regular Drip: Episode 4- Financial Aid 201- Planning This episode looks at some potential options for parents of young kids who […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
In Defense of Standardized Testing: A Reflection
Standardized testing: just the thought of these assessments strikes terror in the hearts of teachers. If only our students cared as much about how they score on state-mandated tests. Most of the educational literature reflects a negative view of standardized testing, but they serve an important purpose in American education: to indicate teacher effectiveness through […]