I remember wishing for a flood about 3/4 of the way through the process. I would go to school the next day and tell my colleagues that I wasn’t able to finish it because all my work had been ruined. At certain points the process was so exacting that a personal disaster felt preferable to having to finish the damn thing.
Read MoreWhy I Teach
by Alaina In a recent InterACT blog post, Kelly Kovacic gave a 90 second summary of why she teaches. In solidarity, bloggers in Washington and Arizona are posting blogs to pay tribute to why each of us teaches. Why do
Read MoreWhy I Teach
by Jen Teaching allows me to: Articulate Inspire Motivate Create Discover Smile Laugh Cry Read Write Think Calculate Communicate Collaborate Mediate Watch Learn Grow Explore Sing Investigate Plan Anticipate Expect Differentiate Individualize Share Celebrate Understand Demonstrate Experience Advocate Discern Problem
Read MoreThose Are Some Big Pockets….
Believe it or not, I'm going to be brief. Because my other posts are excessively long, in a Bill Clinton speech – meets Martin Scorsese movie – kind of way, I figure this will help reduce my overall word average
Read MoreAnd the Winner…!
Well, the winner wasn't me! I got my rejection letter in the mail. "Dear Mr. Dicus, Thank you for letting us observe your classroom and meeting with you. You're nomination for this award is a huge accomplishment. Unfortunately, ……" (I
Read MoreNo, It’s a Child.
Yesterday my colleagues and I had the pleasure of a good old-fashioned read-aloud (no post-its to track our thinking, or an explicit strategy think aloud). We gathered in the library for our PLC Wednesday and our principal began the afternoon
Read MoreThose Who Can, Make Movies
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.
Read More
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 More