Imagine this scenario. You walk into a school building as a new principal of the building. It’s the third week of July and you have exactly two weeks to get the school ready. As you go to your office you are greeted my smiling faces. You feel great. As you get settled into your new […]
High School
Posted inClassroom Management, Current Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, School Improvement
High School Recess: Should it be an Option?
Yesterday, our full faculty came together to discuss the pros and cons of our mandated advisory period held in the middle of the day. For 20 minutes, students check in with an advisor to discuss upcoming involvements in events, to conference about grade improvement plans, to engage in fun activities. I have a freshman advisory […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Recruitment & Retention, Series, Uncategorized
Recruitment and Retention Part 3: Incentivizing the Best to Teach in High Needs Schools
[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 friend of mine, we will call him Mark, was considering teaching in two different charter schools this past spring. He had a clear first and second choice. However, his second […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Principals' Corner, Recruitment & Retention, Series, Uncategorized
Recruitment and Retention Part 2: To Keep the Best Educators, Focus on School Leadership First
[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’m blessed to work at the Soulsville Charter School. Our parents are fantastic, our facilities first rate and our student’s motivated and hard working. Yet it would all fall apart were […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Recruitment & Retention, Series, Uncategorized
Recruitment and Retention Part 1: The Need to Retain and Recruit High Quality Educators
[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”] One of my colleagues, we’ll call her Sharon (not her real name), taught for two years in a high performing charter, and she loved it. Whenever we got together, all I’d […]
Posted inClassroom Management, High School, How to Fix Education, Middle School, Opinion
The Student Deserving of an "A" (and Other Grading Policies)
When I was in an interview for the job at the school where I now work, one of the questions they asked me was what I thought about the importance of grades. My answer? Grades are merely a tool. They don’t always represent the heart of a child, or the effort that was put forth or where […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Literacy, Middle School, Opinion
Trash Can Poetry in Motion: Teaching Outside the Box
I recently watched a segment on “Sixty Minutes” that featured an orchestra from Cateura, Paraguay, whose instruments were made entirely of discarded objects found in the local landfill…trash! The orchestra known as “The Landfill Harmonic,” or “Los Reciclados,” was created by Favio Chaevez and Nicolaes Goemez, and consists of a dozen or more children that […]
Posted inHigh School, How to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Vouchers vs. Charters: Comparing Quality School Choice Policies
I work in a charter school, and unlike a teacher in a traditional district school, the students I see every day are not sent to our school based on their street address. Some live down the street and some drive 30 minutes both directions. We have students that come from both private and public […]