The climate is toxic and the vultures are circling. Union partnerships are being used against educators in the court of public opinion in a way that shifts the conversation from exemplary teaching to benefits and bargaining. They are important topics
Read MoreValue Added Part II
I wonder what, in recent history, has suggested that the world of business has anything to even offer the world of education. In just the past couple of years, business models have messed up the economy as well as the gulf of Mexico. Why on earth would we be looking to business to help us figure out how to better educate our kids?
Read More“You can’t do anything to me!”
A 6 year old screamed that at me on Wednesday when I got on to him for running around a classroom, jumping on furniture, and yelling. His classroom was three rooms away from mine and I heard the commotion. That
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Are you a Cupcake or a Muffin?
Last week a 5th grade student came up to me at recess and said, “I’d like to share a letter with you between a cupcake and a muffin.” The letter is as follows: Dear Cupcake, That frosting you smear all
Read MoreReform or Deform: Which is it?
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
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