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 […]
effective teachers
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, The State of Education
The Current State of Education in New York: "The Hunger Games" (Part 3)
The Hunger Games series is powerful as an authentic text due to its messages of speaking out when something is wrong, and of fighting back against the bully. This is a tenet that many teachers not only preach, but practice in their classrooms. Choose to do the right thing. Choose to speak out. Choose to […]
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 inFrom the Front Lines, Principals' Corner, The State of Education
The State of Education in New York: "The Hunger Games" (Part 1)
In this first of a 3-part series, the education policies of the State of New York and the country take on whole new meaning in light of The Hunger Games… In The Hunger Games, the Capitol rules. In education, “The State” rules. In The Hunger Games, the Capitol cuts off the food supply to the […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Technology
Paper or Paperless Classrooms?
Ready or not, my rural high school is preparing to deliver 1:1 iPads to our entire middle and high school populations next fall. Furtive conversations abound in halls and at lunch gatherings as we debate the possibilities and traditional needs of classroom learning. There has always been a fine line between reliance on products that facilitate […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Current Events in Education, Featured, Middle School
Modeling Respectful Behavior (Charter School Diaries #17)
Week 4/29 – 5/3 I am a loner at work… well, maybe it is better said that I don’t go out of my way to be seen. I really just keep to myself; chalk that up to the fact that I am an only child. I really don’t want to be bothered with people – […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Interdisciplinary Approach for ELLs
The Common Core State Standards have demanded that we change the way we teach. With new standards and a new emphasis on college and career readiness that must be able to reach all students, as teachers we need to adapt. With so much to cover in one short (though it may not always feel like […]
Posted inFeatured, Literacy
Can You Read This?
“I cn c y schls r against cell phones. Da lang that students use n wrtng is horrible. Im not sayin im 4 cell phones n schl, but im nt ready 2 say im against them. SMH at this argument. I ll TTYL abt phones n schls.”* How many teachers have seen something like this […]