[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”] Last November, I had the privilege to attend a conference of educators like myself, who work primarily with dropout recovery and dropout prevention programs.  These are the students society labels “at […]
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Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Opinion
The Top 5 Things That Teachers Think (To Themselves) But Do Not Say (Out Loud)…
There are many skills that must be acquired if one is to be a truly great teacher. But what every teacher knows is the art of holding one’s tongue. How many times has something biting, vituperative, but honest, popped into our consciousness as we go about teaching our classes or partaking in teacher meetings and […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion, Uncategorized
Fordham and Hess Temporarily Acknowledge that Reformers Can't Have it Both Ways
[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”] Voucher advocates are in an absolute tizzy over a recent paper from the pro-education-reform Thomas B. Fordham Institute. It is truly a thing of beauty. Jay P. Greene is not amused. He is […]
Posted inFeatured, Parents
Homework: It’s Not Just for Kids Anymore
[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”] As an elementary teacher and parent of three, I am not a believer in homework. I am, however, a huge believer in learning. I am a huge believer in doing […]
Posted inOpinion
The Dog Won’t Eat Your Homework Now: Rethinking Homework in Elementary Classrooms
[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 am not a believer in homework. I am, however, a huge believer in learning. I am a huge believer in doing things with your children. I am a huge […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Uncategorized
The Tough Kid
Sometimes it happens at the beginning of the year. Or one January or May morning, the disembodied voice on the intercom announces you have a new student coming up to join your class. Then, there he is. That child, Â is usually a boy, stands at the door, assessing the class. You send up a silent […]
Posted inCommon Core, From the Front Lines, Uncategorized
Ed Reform's Atari Problem
My cousin, John Michael, had the first Atari I ever saw. Not long after, my cousin Philip got one. I went to their houses every chance I got, and while I was there I hogged their video game machines as much as I could. I still remember the spongy feel and new plastic smell of […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Different Ways of Educating
I was told by a high school counselor not too long ago that if a student couldn’t function in a typical high school setting, he would not be able to function in life. Her take on it was that a typical high school is a true population sampling of what types of people ‘real life’ […]