March 2011 - STORIES FROM SCHOOL AZ

Value Added

March 29, 2011Eve Rifkin Education, Life in the Classroom, Literacy, Mentoring

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.

Heroes

March 28, 2011Jen Robinson Current Affairs, National Board Certification

With all the bad looming around education today, I chose to acknowledge the teachers in my district, across the state and across the country, who are preparing to submit their portfolios for National Board certification. About two weeks ago my

Are you a bad teacher?

March 25, 2011Donnie Dicus Uncategorized

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

You’ve Been Served

March 25, 2011Mike Lee Education, Elementary

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

Where’s our Norma Rae?

March 10, 2011Donnie Dicus Uncategorized

"We’re not going to get better teaching by punishing our teachers." Thank you, Rep. Brain Cronin (D-Boise)! You have just become my personal hero! In these dark times as legislatures are stripping rights away, (And I mean you Wisconsin) we

Nice and Safe

March 9, 2011Daniela A. Robles Uncategorized

It’s Wednesday evening and it feels like it should be Saturday morning. As I sit on my couch I let out a deep sigh. I turn on the television. I am greeted with “Breaking News.” Ahh, the scene is

Details

March 6, 2011Daniela A. Robles Uncategorized

The current state of affairs leaves most of us in a haze of hopelessness. The fact that I felt the blossoms of inspiration in the midst of this haze is quite a remarkable feat. Last week at the Arizona K-12

Really?

March 2, 2011Jen Robinson Uncategorized

The past few months have been blurry. It is hard to believe that it is already March only a few weeks away from spring break. Last night when I got home I asked my husband, who is also a teacher

A New Metric System: Part II

March 1, 2011Eve Rifkin Education, Education Policy

In my last blogpost, "A New Metric System", I took issue with a couple of key points that Diane Ravitch regularly makes in her book and while on tour. This was after I gave Dr. Ravitch major kudos for igniting