Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding By Jay McTighe & Grant Wiggins Published by ASCD, 2013 [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”] I was lucky enough to go through my MAT training (about 10 years ago) […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Jeff Bliss: Ignorance Is Bliss Or Is Bliss Just Ignorant?
Recently, I saw this video in which an angry student named Jeff Bliss went on a tirade against his teacher because he felt she wasn’t actively teaching the students in her class. After a few minutes of Internet surfing, I stumbled upon this article, in which Bliss is touted as the poster boy for educational […]
Posted inOpinion, The State of Education, Uncategorized
The State of Education in New York: "The Hunger Games" (Part 2)
In The Hunger Games Katniss becomes an unwitting symbol of the revolution when she uses the nightlock berries as a strategy for survival. She takes the power out of the hands of the Capitol and the Gamemakers. Throughout the next two books, the reader discovers that a revolution was brewing the entire time, a revolution […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Wikipedia Steps on Women Writers in Stepping Towards the Scholarly
A short-lived category sub-set in a Wikipedia entry set off a feminist firestorm at the end of April. In an editorial for the New York Times titled “Wikipedia’s Sexism,” the writer Amanda Filipacchi noted the removal of women writers from the Wikipedia web page category “American Novelists;” women writers had been regrouped under a new web page, […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
The Absent Teacher
OK. Can I just rant a minute? I totally understand that teachers are people too. We have normal lives that involve doctor’s appointments, our own sick kids, funerals and professional development conferences during the school day. I get this. But what about that ONE teacher who we all know that seems to have unending amounts […]
Posted inBook Review, Opinion
“World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements” A Book Review
World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements, by John Hunter Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2013 As teachers we need inspiration and support. If you are feeling a need to think about your purpose in the classroom and the meaning you have on those in your path, pick up a copy of World Peace and […]
Posted inBook Review, Opinion
"The Well-Balanced Teacher" – A Book Review
The Well-Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and OutBy Mike Anderson Publisher: ASCD, 2010 I was raised on the basis of ‘work smarter, not harder.’ This adage rings in my ears for just about everything I try to accomplish. However, we all know about the road of good […]
Posted inElementary School, Kindergarten, Opinion
Dress Code Violations? Blame Disney's Princesses
Once the snow has melted, and mud dries up enough so wearing flip flops is possible, the season of dress code violations begins. Whether your school dress code policy is ultra conservative or lassiez faire, every spring, there will be one or two students, usually female, who will challenge the dress code with a startling vigor. […]