During my entire career, there were always standards in mathematics. Whether I was dealing with the mathematics standards of the School District of Philadelphia, the standards of the state of Pennsylvania, or the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), I followed some standards in the teaching of mathematics. With this as […]
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Posted inHow to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Tennessee Education's Perception Problem
My 10th grade girls are all into HUGE purses, the size of backpacks. They can be very distracting as the girls rustle through the bag’s cavernous depths on a quest to find any and all manner of items. This spring I decided to institute what I thought was a fair and simple policy where purses would […]
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Flipped Conversations on Stereotypes
Why is the discussion of race or gender so fraught with stress? Recently more than 1,000 educators were forced to grapple with the aftermath of a misinterpreted welcome speech at the annual AP World History (WHAP) score reading. Within a day of his opening address, the Chief Reader gave a public apology, acknowledging his remarks and actions as culturally and […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Middle School, Social Justice, Uncategorized
NPR Blogger Accidentally Exposes an Underlining Issue in Education 'Reform'
This morning I opened my Twitter account to catch up on all of the education news across the country when in the middle of my computer screen I saw this tweet from NPR’s Lead Education Blogger, Anya Kamenetz. The first time I read it, I thought I had misread it, but after looking at all […]
Posted inCommon Core, School Improvement, Uncategorized
Irrational Fears Prevent Real Common Core Progress
Ashley is smart as a whip but often doubts her own abilities. When she first encounters a new math concept she always believes it’s going to be hard and fears attempting it. But with a little help she makes the attempt, and by the end of class I’m almost always rewarded by hearing her exclaim […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Math Through the Looking Glass
By Jeffrey Benson At staff meetings in most schools, the subject area teachers sit among their peers. They sit with ones who most understand their struggles to convey the content and skills specific to their disciplines: PE with PE, science with science, arts with arts. As a consultant to schools that work with challenging students, […]
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Performance Based Tests Take the Guesswork Out of Assessing
This post originally ran on SCORE (the State Collaborative on Reforming Education) on May 28th, 2014: [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”] Marianne’s multiple choice test was the easiest things in the world to grade. A, B, A, […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Uncategorized
End of the Year Physics: Phase Changes and Student Growth
As the school year comes to a close, the buzzphrase is “student growth.” All stakeholders in education want to be able to demonstrate student growth, especially if student growth could be on an upwards trajectory . Last week I had an opportunity to consider student growth with a different lens, and that lens was provided by a graduating senior who was […]