At a Microsoft conference for educators last summer I got to take home a bunch of pink erasers (I was hoping for something sleeker). The erasers read “make mistakes”. The folks at one of the most successful corporations on the planet know that mistakes lead to great ideas and that they should be made regularly. We need to start rewarding innovation and risk-taking if we want good, or even great teachers. And those are the very things that will be punished if we think that a standardized test taken by a hungry or moody teenager can tell us everything we need to know about good teaching.
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If I Had a Film Crew
I, rarely, watch movies about teachers – mainly because it drives my husband nuts when I yell at the screen because a teacher has pulled a karate move with inner city students, has placed chains on doors to lock out crime, or is connected
Read MoreElections, Squirrels, Teaching, and Shiny Things.
An old adage suggests that if one wishes to understand why something truly happens, the question“why?” must be posed at least five consecutive times. This allows the questioner to get below surface-level influences and arrive at the root cause. I
Read MoreNow what do we do?
So Election Day has come and gone and many people are thinking what's going to happen next? How are things going to change? What do I do? Well, you are going to do your job. That's what you are going
Read MoreWhy is it important to vote?
Day one…post Election Day. The reality of the situation is that yesterday’s election results WILL impact Arizona and education… NOT for the better. The election just didn’t go our way. Its hard to be upbeat as educators when we are
Read MoreMr. Weatherbee is So 20th Century
Was I destroying the fabric of our democracy by being a fair and sensible principal? Will the kids would grow up to assume that most decisions made by adults were equally fair and sensible? YIKES!
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Big Pumpkin
As a kindergarten teacher, I always loved reading the story, Big Pumpkin by Erika Silverman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHkuZKAW7bs Maybe it was the singsong, predictable prose. Well she pulled and she tugged and she pulled. First she pulled hard and then she pulled
Read MoreDo you love your job? Are you sure?
Over the past few years, I have had the opportunities to attend workshops and various meetings and meet many teachers that were neither at my school site nor even in my district or city. It was interesting and intellectually stimulating
Read MoreNot-So-Strange Bedfellows
As co-founder of a small charter high school, I decided to interview Mike Klonsky, Chicago-based leader in the modern small-schools movement. Mike and I have a lot in common: we agree that small schools offer a more humane and functional alternative to big schools. We also share the belief, as evidenced by research and our own experiences, that small schools have lower teacher turnover, experience less violence, and allow for greater teacher autonomy.
Read MoreHomework …
How much is too much? Or not enough? I guess it varies on grade level and purpose. I was amazed at the amount of homework my neice and nephew would bring home. Some evenings, yes entire evenings, were spent on homework;
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