Education is personal and teachers work with an ever-moving target of standards and expectations. Throw children into the mix and there is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Each student comes into the classroom with their own history, experiences, needs and circumstances. We have students who “fit the mold” of a learner. These students learn in many situations, […]
How to Fix Education
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Shifting Our Mindset Around Teacher Evaluations
[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”] During my first two years teaching I have to admit that I often thought of myself as a bad teacher. But fortunately I had an incredible mentor in my instructional facilitator, […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, How to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Teaching Ferguson: Resources for High School
We cannot help but return to school with heavy hearts and confused minds over the events that took place early last month in Ferguson, Missouri. And yet we should not be silent about it in the classroom – for the good that can come out of this is the opportunity to demonstrate for students the […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education, Recruitment & Retention, Series, Uncategorized
A Profession for My Generation
This op-ed originally appeared in the Memphis-based Commercial Appeal on August 3rd, 2014: I have a confession: Halfway through my second year of teaching, I was questioning whether teaching was really the right career for me. I was putting in countless hours in my Memphis high school, but my progress as an educator felt much […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Tennessee Education's Perception Problem
My 10th grade girls are all into HUGE purses, the size of backpacks. They can be very distracting as the girls rustle through the bag’s cavernous depths on a quest to find any and all manner of items. This spring I decided to institute what I thought was a fair and simple policy where purses would […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
End of the Year Physics: Phase Changes and Student Growth
As the school year comes to a close, the buzzword is “student growth.” All stakeholders in education want to be able to demonstrate student growth, especially when it is on an upward trajectory. Last week, I had an opportunity to consider student growth with a different lens, and that lens was provided by a graduating senior who was preparing […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Teaching and the Off-Season
This post originally appeared May 23rd on Teacher Pop: [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 favorite things about fall is following the Green Bay Packers. The season always begins on a high note, but ends […]
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Middle School, Opinion, Parents
Unschooling: When There is No End to the School Year
This time of year is filled with so many conflicting feelings for teachers. I remember my time in the classroom as I faced June: elation, anxiousness, constant review of what needed to get done, finalizing grades and projects, planning for next year, thinking about the summer… The end of the school year is a huge […]