Since teachers listen to plenty of podcasts, we are going to start to review them. One of our firsts is Nice White Parents from the New York Times. Judging a podcast by its cover, the title certainly produces both evocative and provocative responses. All teachers and schools most certainly want to work with “nice parents” […]
Opinion
Posted inHow to Fix Education
How School Boards Became the Most Important People You Never Voted For
There’s a number I can’t get out of my head: 20%. As folks affix their Trump and Biden signs in their yards and argue precipitously over politics with their neighbors, claiming how this is the “most important election of their lives” and how the other guy will “ruin America,” I’m still thinking about that number. […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Here’s To Our First Year As Teachers During COVID-19
Guest Writer: Callie LaBarbera On Friday at 11:30 a.m. I stared at my cellphone willing the alert that our Governor was live to pop up on my screen. In NYS, I was not alone in doing this. Parents and teachers alike sat with bated breath waiting to hear if the Governor would give us the […]
Posted inOpinion
The Case for Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Guest Writer: Maya El-Darzi Maya El-Darzi has a bachelor’s degree in both political science and history, as well as a master’s degree in history and teaching. Maya currently teaches World and US History at a local high school. Security guards, cameras, and inflexible discipline codes – these elements constitute the zero-tolerance behavioral policy schools have […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Opinion
Opinion: The White House Just Gave My School 8 Recommendations for Reopening Schools During COVID-19. Here’s Mine.
By Thomas Courtney President Donald J. Trump just declared that teachers and students should go back to school and he gave us eight pieces of advice–may be to help swallow this magical pill. For a national symptom that in his fumbling idiocy he caused in at least part, and for which he takes no responsibility. […]
Posted inFeatured
DON’T BE FOOLED: The Fall Will Be Difficult, But Teachers Were Demoralized Long Before COVID-19
Yes, the next few months of American education might well go down as the most challenging time in the careers of most classroom teachers. But the waves of change instigated by the Coronavirus crisis should not obscure the real story of American education. It is this story that policy-makers and parents should heed. While the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
If New York Can’t Open Schools, Nobody Can…
On Friday, August 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo greenlighted the over 700 New York State School Districts’ plans for the 2020-2021 school year. His message is clear: New York is tough; it has the lowest numbers in the country, and if New York can’t reopen, then no schools can safely reopen. [bctt tweet=”However, the question remains, […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
This Year Will Be a Lost School Year
Everyone is anxious about the upcoming school year. Parents need and want their kids in school. Teachers miss the personal interactions that define teaching. Truth be told, I think everyone misses the structure and security of having schools open. But, many people realize we don’t have control of a contagious disease ravaging our communities. Instead […]