Until three years ago I knew nothing about Twitter. I kept hearing about it from my students. I reluctantly signed up for a Twitter according to the directions and for months it sat there. That was until one night after watching a rerun from my favorite Scandal episode and I just wanted to find out […]
Posted inNew Teacher Bootcamp
Teacher Prep Programs Can Not Be a Dry Land Practice
“Stand up. Now, put out your right arm,” the instructor was encouraging. “OK, pull your arm back past your body.” We all did as we were told. This was the first night of EDR 505, a graduate level course in teaching remedial reading to pre-school and elementary aged schoolchildren. “Now try with the other arm.”We waved […]
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 inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum
Great Teachers Are Content Area Experts WITH Skills
Tuesday nights are #edchat nights on Twitter, and educators across the country, even across the globe, discuss topics of general interest for an hour.  On May 7, the topic posted was: What is BIG Shift in ed that everyone is looking for? Is there 1 idea that can positively affect education? While I was surfing the column […]
Posted inFeatured
Twitter PLNs -Because Solutions in Education Must Include Teachers
I recently read a tweet by the National Education Association’s (NEA) president, Dennis Van Roekel, which brought me to this quote: “I’m so tired of OTHERS defining the solutions….without even asking those who do the work every day of their professional life.” Consider how solutions determined by others have determined the profound changes in education […]