This was it. I stood, sweaty and exhausted, as my band director walked over to the group of potential drum major candidates standing at the center of the field. Six of us had just endured a grueling tryout for the past hour and a half, but only one would be selected to be drum major […]
Opinion
Posted inClassroom Management, Middle School, Opinion, Social Studies
It's Not Just a Classroom; It Could be a Museum
I think every teacher has been asked the following question: What does your ideal classroom look like? I know some teachers think about the answer to this question every day. Some answers include an interactive whiteboard, a few computers or tablets – preferably iPads and MacBooks or Chromebooks, and round tables over desks. In a […]
Posted inOpinion, School Improvement, Uncategorized
Children Are Not Widgets
In an effort to improve education, many reformers suggest that we use a business approach to evaluate teachers. To do this they suggest that teachers must be rated based on what they “do” for the children that they teach. For many, this means judging the quality of a teacher based on the improvements students make […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Opinion
Math Principles to Actions: An Invitation and a Demand
I heard a refreshing voice today. One that silenced the annoying diatribe I have encountered in the past regarding the mathematics dilemma. (Caution: a moment of personal trajectory coming in 3…2…) As an African-American woman, I am twice marginalized by the discipline of mathematics, and yet access to it has catapulted me to levels of […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
10 Myths and Facts about Teacher Unions
I admit that I sign up for education haters’ email lists, and one thing that seems to be trending is differentiating truths and myths. Most recently in the cross hairs are teachers’ unions. It’s time you heard from someone in the field about some honest truths. Myth 1: Teachers are forced to join unions Fact: […]
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 inCurrent Events in Education, Opinion, Uncategorized
Scratching the Wall of a Condemned Cell: Teaching Humanity
“Tastes change; truths become clichés; whole art forms disappear. Even the greatest art’s triumph over death is risibly temporary. A novelist might hope for another generation of readers—two or three if lucky—which may feel like a scorning of death; but it’s really just scratching on the wall of the condemned cell. We do it to […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Opinion
You Can’t Scare Me I’m a Teacher: The Truth About Lies
We’ve probably all seen those t-shirts or bumper stickers that read, “You can’t scare me, I’m a …..mother/ school nurse/ correctional officer…well in this case, you may want to insert the word “teacher.” Why? The premise to the captivating statement implies that we’ve seen it all, so there’s just no way you can scare us with […]