My school district completed four days of first class professional development that began with a visit from Dave Burgess, the author of Teach Like a Pirate and ended with faculty-led collaborative committees organizing for an accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). In four short days, the veteran teachers adjusted, organized classrooms, and prepared […]
education reform
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Common Core, Current Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Uncategorized
Education Reformers Without Classroom Experience Lack Credibility
In these days of education reform, teachers want one of their own, someone who has been in the classroom, to make the important decisions that impact the policies they must implement. They want someone who has taught a lesson with content, assessed that lesson, retaught that lesson, reassessed that lesson, and evaluated that lesson for […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Uncategorized
Letterman’s Top Ten Tribute to Teachers Needs More than Teach for America
[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”] Tributes for teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week are appreciated coming just as the school year comes to a close, when very tired teachers are looking back to see student progress over the past […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Taking Charge of Our Own Profession – Part 2: A New Model
In Part 1, I introduced the idea that it is time to consider a new professional model for education. In this Part 2, I offer some ideas of how we might begin this task. [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” […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Taking Charge of Our Own Profession – Part 1: We're Selling Ourselves Short!
[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”] Like all teachers around the country, I am saddened by the indictments of administrators and teachers in Atlanta for cheating on the state’s standardized tests. It’s disheartening, embarrassing, and maddening to […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Kindergarten, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
The Anti-Equality Movement
[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”] When I look at the oeuvre of a proponent of modern school reform orthodoxies like Eric Hanushek, I’m struck by the disturbing fact that much if not most of his research […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Kindergarten, Opinion, Uncategorized
Another Testing Season Arrives: Is this Really What Education is About?
[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 week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan co-authored an article in Huffington Post touting what they call this administration’s “comprehensive plan to […]
Posted inCommon Core, Opinion, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
In Texas, Progress; But the Fight Continues
This is a cross-post from EdGator.com. [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 got involved in the scrap over education two years ago when I wrote an epistle known as “The Alamo Letter” to my state legislators. […]