I had a student observer this past spring who asked me “how we do it?” She wanted to know how, in spite of all the stuff thrown our way – the attacks on the profession, the teachers, the union, the pension, the lifestyle, the politics, the “part-time worker” status, the lack of results – and […]
student success
On Modifications: Should All Students Climb the Mountain the Same Way?
As a former special education teacher, I remember hearing all of the time about how students needed to all do the same thing in the classroom because, at the end of the year, they would all take the same test. Despite the intellectual ability of the student, many teachers still argue that all students should […]
20 Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences
For most teachers, November marks two things on our schedules: Parent-teacher conferences A day of Thanks that they’re over Let’s get you from point 1 to point 2 with our 20 tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences PRE-CONFERENCE: 1. Learn your school’s culture regarding that day. The first years I taught at my current school, I […]
Celebrating Banned Books in the Classroom
Even though Banned Books Week has officially passed, you don’t have to restrict talking about censorship to just one week of the school year. In fact, I would encourage you to discuss censorship and why books might be challenged throughout the school year, not just for a week in September. I actually like to keep banned […]
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Believing in ALL Students
Tell me if these statements sound familiar to you: “Johnny will never understand how to divide with fractions.” “Andre scored a Level 1 on his test last year…we really need to focus on the students we can move to proficiency.” “Victoria doesn’t even know how to write a sentence. There’s no way she’ll ever write a […]
A New Generation of Educators Leads the Way
For the last several years, the ASCD has honored two educators with an Outstanding Young Educator Award. This year at the ASCD Annual Conference, we had a chance to talk with one of the recipients, Dr. Joshua Garcia. Garcia is the Deputy Superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools in Tacoma, Washington. He was a teacher, principal, […]
Will you be a hero to a child who needs one?
After the teaching staff in her school were once again “warned” that each child must make a year’s growth (for reading) based upon new “MAP” scores which seem to be unreliable, this Pennsylvania teacher couldn’t remain silent. The staff at her school is incredibly hard working and extremely exhausted. So she wrote a letter to […]