Guest Writer: Jill Jackson One of the things I have noticed as I’ve worked with teachers is the chaos. The chaos of professional development (either too much training with no time to actually try anything or so little training teachers are searching social media in desperation to write their own curriculum each night). The […]
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13 Websites for Middle-High School Students
CommonLit: CommonLit is a nonprofit education technology organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, especially students in Title I schools, graduate with the reading, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills they need to be successful in college and beyond. This is a great tool to help students as they try to stay on track with grade-level […]
Opinion: Things Are Weird Right Now
Guest Writer: Jill Jackson The last year as an educator has been a weird one for me. First, I was rejected from speaking at a conference that I never applied to speak at. Here’s the rejection letter, in case you’re interested: Good Morning and Happy Holidays! After careful consideration, unfortunately, your speaker’s expressed […]
A WIN for Teachers
Guest Writer: Charlotte Walker A few years ago under new school leadership, our school instituted WIN Time. WIN is an acronym for “What I need” and is a 30 minute, four days a week reading intervention block. For the first time in the 20 years I had worked for the district, our classroom para-educators were […]
Dear Senator Warren: There are 3.2 Million Public School Teachers Who Know What We Need in Education
February 26, 2020 Dear Senator Warren: At the Democratic Primary Debate in Charleston, South Carolina, you proclaimed that you would hire a teacher as your Secretary of Education. If elected in 2020, your decision to hire a public school educator for this cabinet position would be a positive step away from the current administration’s choice […]
A Valentine to a Teacher
by Sarah Macha February 14th is a day of dread for most teachers. Kids are high on candy, hormones and rival the vibrato of wolves during a full moon. Helium balloons bounce around, red and pink packaging fill the hallways and the scent of $5 roses linger in the air like a bad perfume that won’t […]
Professional Development Reflections: Embracing the Margins
Professional development, also known as PD, can often be unpredictable. In the words of Forrest Gump, like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. I often try to remember this when I’m designing PD myself as I want to ensure professional learning is intentional and useful for educators. We all […]
Charter Schools Won’t Bring Us Racial Equity
Earlier this month was National Charter Schools Week, but I was not celebrating. To explain, let me start by saying what equity is, and what it’s not. A common social justice definition of equity is everyone getting what they need to thrive. Equity is not improving outcomes for some, while others get the same or […]