2014 - Page 7 of 7 - STORIES FROM SCHOOL AZ

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.

At the Door of the Tent

January 30, 2014Sandy Merz Books, Current Affairs, Education Policy, Teacher Leadership

“These changes you’re talking about – it’s not just reforming the union. We have to organize teachers all over again. The first time we organized their economic rights; now we have to organize them as educators. We have to organize

Sometimes Creativity Isn’t Fun

January 27, 2014John Spencer Education Policy, Life in the Classroom

I used to believe that creativity would lead to fun. I thought that if I crafted the right project and included a high level of creativity, students would enjoy every lesson. I was crushed, then, when I saw students getting

Reflecting back…

January 23, 2014Jen Robinson Uncategorized

After taking some time to relax and enjoy the holidays with friends and family, it was time to conquer the list. You know “the list” I am referring to. I had post it notes all over the house and at

The Kids Are Alright

January 22, 2014Eve Rifkin Uncategorized

Several years ago, I had the fortune of traveling to Florence, Italy, where Michelangelo's "David" lives. It was an early summer morning, smack in the middle of high tourist season, and I was, unbelievably, the only visitor in the Accademia

One Day

January 22, 2014Daniela A. Robles Uncategorized

I, like many other teachers, believe that assessment should be directly aligned to the teaching and learning in your classroom. Even during our current era of high stakes assessment, I still believed. For the past ten years, each time the

On Warring Dwarves, Common Core, and Terrible Medication

January 16, 2014Mike Lee Uncategorized

There is a lot riding on this initiative, and if you’re going to take up the sword, know the facts, prepare for the consequences, and be sure to know who is standing beside you.

Taming Godzilla, Preemptively?

January 14, 2014Amethyst Hinton Sainz Assessment, Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Literacy, Mathematics, National Board Certification, Teacher Leadership

Amethyst and Sandy Merz fail to truly disagree, but succeed in uncovering some compelling possibilities for Common Core Standards implementation.