Instruction & Curriculum

When you hear or look at the math problem: 33 + 45… what do you see?  I ask students and even adults this question fairly often. The numbers in the equation may change but the question is always about what they see. I teach middle school math and I am a visual math learner. I […]

There’s this unspoken rule in schools that you learn pretty quickly when you’re a specials teacher: You’re here to give the “real teachers” a break.  Whether you teach art, music, P.E, STEM, Language, or any enrichment class, you feel it. The unintentional (and let’s be honest – sometimes intentional) dismissal of your role as anything […]

Imagine it is the last hour of the day. You have given directions for the students to start on their class reading assignment, but all of a sudden, you see 5 students raising their hands. You go over and address one student, and then another student raises their hand. Now you are overwhelmed because you […]

“A child is the only known substance from which a responsible adult can be made.” –Tom Lickona, Raising Good Children The University School of Milwaukee (USM), where I am the Middle School Head, has a core set of values that we refer to as The Common Trust. Our core values are respect, trust, honesty, fairness, […]

Oklahoma lawmakers and law enforcement are calling for transparency and further investigation after reports surfaced that explicit images appeared on a television in Superintendent Ryan Walters’ office during an executive session of the Oklahoma State Board of Education. While in office, Walters has been known to push for the implementation of education policies based on […]

I had only just begun my career as a middle school teacher in one of the outer suburbs of Los Angeles. “Outer” meant that the area still retained some of its rural features. Most of the orange groves and cornfields of the closer in San Fernando Valley had already been replaced by track homes and […]

Federal Dismantling and Early Learning Disparities in Head Start  As a veteran early childhood educator with over 15 years of experience, I’ve witnessed how a quality preschool education can positively change the trajectory of a child’s life. This is why, as a nation, we should be alarmed as President Trump begins dismantling the Federal Department […]