This year we have looked at ways to increase leadership roles and opportunities for our students. One role we created was a Student on Special Assignment (S.O.S.A). Originally six students were selected for this role. A teacher nominated two students
Read MoreA quality evaluation is a beginning; a useless one, an end. That’s the conclusion I draw from a quote by the legendary Madeline Hunter in a recent Ed Week article by David Finley: “If you hear someone playing the piano,
Read MoreThis year, I have been participating in the second pilot year of the Teacher Leadership Initiative. This program is a partnership among the National Education Association, National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, and the Center for Teaching Quality. Since August
Read MoreAs a special education teacher, one of my important responsibilities includes writing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students. IEPs are educational documents that describe learning strengths/weaknesses, accommodations or modifications, special education goals and services, and other topics that relate to a student’s Free and
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Everywhere I turn today, “accountability” is suffocating the life out of schools, teachers, and administrators. Accountability looms large in high-stakes testing for students, teacher evaluations, and around this time of year: Teacher End-of-Year Checkout. If you aren’t a teacher, you
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People do not care about public education! That was the message that many Arizonan educators received back in November as a wave of school overrides failed at the ballot. Shortly after, the budget for public education was drastically cut which
Read MoreDespite the stereotype that teachers spend the last few weeks showing movies, I find the opposite to be true at my school. As I walk through the hallways on my prep period, I see classes bursting with creative energy. Out
Read MoreI was so proud of my very first Stories From School blog. It shed light on an interesting subject, related directly to education practice, and allowed readers a glimpse into a topic that was current and relevant. Most importantly, however,
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