Like its sister-term, “accountability,” the term “reform” has had a few minutes of fame in education this year (see this swell piece by blogger-extraordinaire Nancy Flanagan). Here, Flanagan blatantly opens her piece with the statement, “Hello my name is
Read MoreWe’ll Get What We Get, and We Should Throw A Fit
If we do go down this path, there has to be an increase in up-front compensation for teachers. Who is going to invest $30,000 or more into the rising cost of a university education to go after a job that will leave them in debt and incapable of raising a family on its income? We’ll get what we pay for: a lack of talent and major shortages of quality instruction.
Read MoreNot On The Test
Yes, it is that time of the year again – Standardized State Testing. Oh my, everything that we have taught all year must be regurgitated in six tests over the course of three days. Unless you are in one of
Read MoreYou know you’re a National Board Candidate if……
March 31st had come and gone. I wonder how many boxes are making their way to San Antonio as I type this. I wish safe travels to all those boxes and my sincerest congratulations to all those who have placed
Read More“Oh, the Humanity!”
Now that I've moved into the last grading period of the school year, the magnitude of the year has started to sink in. In August, I felt scared – the national trends in education seemed daunting and overwhelming (to say the
Read MoreDefining Moments
Our lives our benchmarked by defining moments. Many of us look at our lifetime and see moments that are personal and professional. The birth of my daughter was a defining moment, but so was leaving the classroom. There are moments
Read MoreValue Added
Ciril earned a B on his sonnet recital. I’m not sure how a value-added model can possibly calculate all that he has accomplished. But he knows, and we know, that the most important value that is ever added through the hard work of teachers and students will never be accurately depicted on a graph.
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Are you a bad teacher?
Well, are you? A new movie coming out on June 24th asks that very question. www.areyouabadteacher.com I am so glad that spring break has come which has allowed me take time from grading papers, making lesson plans, and working on
Read MoreYou’ve Been Served
I've been serving my teachers quite a bit, lately. For the past few weeks I've had to publish several versions of potential and varied staffing assignments and share a whole host of ominous news about the looming funding crisis for
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