February 2014 - STORIES FROM SCHOOL AZ

A Silent Testing Environment

February 25, 2014Amethyst Hinton Sainz Assessment, Current Affairs, Education Policy, Literacy

Testing Day is silent, of course, but teachers are not even allowed to examine or discuss the state standardized assessments after the fact. I can’t see how this helps advance teaching and learning.

Black History Month

February 19, 2014John Spencer Current Affairs

I hate the term "loud music trial." It makes it sound like somehow the decibel level provoked the violence, like maybe the homicide was at least somewhat justified. The facts remain. A white man shot unarmed black teenagers. Jordan Davis

Balancing The Load With The Brain In Mind

February 10, 2014Sandy Merz Education, Life in the Classroom, National Board Certification, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership

How do you handle your work load when you have unstructured time and many tasks that vary in complexity and duration? In my teacherpreneur role I’m learning to balance more tasks with more variety and complexity than ever. I learned

A District, A Salary Schedule, and Decompression: An Interview with Robbie Ramirez

February 6, 2014Amethyst Hinton Sainz Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Teacher Leadership

I interview teacher-leader Robbie Ramirez about the effects of salary compression in her district. She provides a personal story which makes it clear why decompressing the salaries of veteran teachers should be a top priority in districts which have made painful budget choices in the past several years.