[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”] The Green Bay Packers are my football team. There are many things to love them as both a team and a franchise. One of my favorites is that 50 of their […]
How to Fix Education
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, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum
Differentiated Motivation
I began my teaching career about twenty years ago, and in that time I have seen a great deal of change around the concept of differentiation. It began, for me, as simply modifying assessments for students in special education . . . lowering the bar so that they may experience a taste of success. It […]
Posted inEnglish Language Learners, Featured, From the Front Lines, How to Fix Education
Welcome to America: Now Take this Test. The Realities of Refugee Students and their Teachers
This year’s ASCD Conference in Los Angeles was weighed down by sessions about the CCSS and flipped classrooms – topics that reasonably should have been big 3+ years ago. But there were a few diamonds among the rough; educators who presented with prescient understanding oncoming issues that the education community must face. One of those […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, How to Fix Education, Opinion
How Effective are Responsive Classroom Strategies?
Try this in your classroom when things are getting crazy. Say in a nice firm teacher voice, “I notice six people are doing their work.” Watch what happens. I can almost guarantee that the room will begin to quiet, students will look around and start to work. You might have to announce a new, higher […]
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 […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, How to Fix Education, Interviews, Middle School, Principals' Corner, School Improvement
Inspirational Educator: Deborah R. Gerhardt
We at The Educator’s Room have a quest to locate and speak with any and every Inspirational Educator we can find. For this segment, we turn to North Carolina – currently a hotbed of pro-teacher – and much needed – educational reform. [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” […]
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Politicized Purpose: A Reassessment of Teacher Unions Today
In February 2011, about 1,000 Wisconsin teachers protested Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to hinder union bargaining rights. Ripple effects were felt throughout the nation: political leaders sought to reform unions in each New Jersey, Nevada, Indiana, and Florida, to name a few. In her report on these stories, Jennifer Epstein of Politico writes, “Teachers unions, […]