My eight year stint as principal is coming to an end this month, and I’m finding it hard to say goodbye to my colleagues. To my friends. I am often reticent to use military analogies. Terms like “heroes” and “warriors,”
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It’s Harder to Speak Up When It’s Local
I am bothered by certain things in my district. I think it's irresponsible to spend half a million dollars a year on the digital worksheet program Success Maker. I think we lose too many days to testing and we misuse
Read MoreWhat If? First Week Stories and The Time to Read Them
What if teachers had time set aside early in the year to truly analyze their pre-assessments? The first week of school is invigorating or exhausting, depending on how you look at it. There is so much to take care of:
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Institutional Mindsets and Whether We Stay in Education
Let’s see, there are one, two, three, four, hmm…, five, six, hmmm…, oh right, seven, eight,…, nine colleagues, at least, including me, who have changed their professional context in this last year. I’m not counting those who have had their professional context
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These Are People, Not Ideas
Every person employed in public education is a civil representative of the public. It’s our job to serve the public. As a teacher, I might not agree with a parent’s decisions, but it is my duty to love that family
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How About Just One Standard?
I’ve been thinking – and the current controversy involving our state superintendent only makes it clearer to me – that we should agree on a curriculum of simply one standard. I know it sounds crazy, but hey, Jack Black
Read MoreThe Definition of Family Is Expanding
I was in my second year of teaching when a boy walked in with two older men for parent teacher conferences. "Which one is your dad?" I asked. "Both of them." "I'm so sorry," I said. I stumbled my way
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Fortunately
I first learned about the book, Fortunately by Remy Charlip in a professional development about the six traits of writing. The book begins…Fortunately he is invited to a birthday party, unfortunately the party was in Florida and he lived in
Read MoreUnfinished Thoughts
Well, I missed my second deadline in a row and can't claim to have been too busy. Truth be told, I haven't been able to string together enough complete thoughts on a single topic to hit our 600 – 800
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