English teacher creates an epic hip hop ballad that will rock your world and leave you flabbergasted as to why teachers of core subjects often do not have access to colored paper or a color printer or photocopier.
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What If? (#3) OR Why My Teacher Website is So Ugly
Teachers and students working in the classroom often know the tech tools we need, and we can learn them an implement them if the systems in our schools are responsive enough to meet our needs quickly.
Read MoreWhat If? (Part 2)
How could providing test or quiz proctoring change the way we use our time as teachers?
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“I Discovered Something Crazy!”
I went treasure hunting. I sought the definitive metaphor to contrast the power of all that is wrong in education with the power of all that is right. Yin Yang? Nah. A transformative professional development doesn’t need to be balanced
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Wigs, Statues, and the Rest
The state department of education grades schools based on student performance on a yearly standardized test. My school also monitors student progress in reading and math with quarterly assessments provided by a commercial testing service. Questions on the quarterly assessments
Read MoreThe Tassel’s Not a Hassle*
Sometimes it is frighteningly transparent who is profiting from access to our schools.
Read MoreIf We are Interchangeable, are We Invisible?
I share the exciting drama of leaving lesson plans with a substitute. What will await the absent teacher upon her return? All will be reavealed…
Read MoreInvisible Stories
The Need for Story I'm watching a Forty-Niners game on a late Sunday morning when someone posts a Facebook video comparing the social networking service to chairs, basketball games, picnics and other deeply human experiences. Minutes later, I look up
Read MoreInvisible Data
I indulge my yearning to simply immerse myself in teaching and with my students without having to collect easily-reportable data for folks not involved in my classroom. One solution is to provide funding or change the school day to allow teachers more time to gather data for public consumption and for use in the classroom.
Read MoreRedesigning School Space
In order to teach the conditional verb tense and the use of vivid imagery, I asked my ELL students to design and redesign spaces. A few students thought about ways to turn phone booths into relaxation centers or podcasting booths.
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