“ Isn’t Kindergarten supposed to be PUN?!” Translation: Isn’t Kindergarten is supposed to be FUN?! The most constructive and valuable criticism I have received in my 7 years as an educator. Why? It was honest, genuine, and most importantly, provided
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Now that I’ve returned to the classroom, people keep asking: “How is it going?” And my answer has been pretty consistent: it’s wonderful, but it’s also kicking my proverbial rear end! It’s not like I forgot how complicated teaching was,
Read MoreDonnie Dicus got me thinking about charter schools in Arizona. It disgusts me that corporations with absolutely no fidelity to Arizona’s children or communities can profit from money that is desperately needed in the traditional public schools to implement current
Read MoreI’m going to start with a digression (a pregression?). I get poems stuck in my head, just like music. Two frequent culprits are from Kurt Vonneget’s novel, Cat’s Cradle: Lion gotta hunt, Bird gotta fly, Man gotta sit and wonder, Why?
Read MoreA huge blow struck the charter school system in Washington this past week. A Washington supreme court ruled that charter schools are unconstitutional . This comes pretty close after a decision in North Carolina in which their Supreme Court ruled
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“Mrs. Maloney, why do you have to leave us?” Her big gray eyes looked up at me pleadingly as she hugged me tight across the middle as if to stop me from exiting the classroom door. My heart was torn
Read MoreMy last post discussed the Mirage Report and the subsequent fallout. This one is not about the report, but it is about the fallout. Which, I suppose, still makes it about the report. But stay with me. As I’ve
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A few years ago, I heard a Dana Goldstein interview on NPR about her book, called The Teacher Wars: A History of the Most Embattled Profession. The title alone was so intriguing! I was captivated by a mind-blowing discussion of
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I hope my readers will indulge me with this one. The Beatles play on vinyl in my earliest memories, and I have always enjoyed the playfulness, surreality and yet wisdom of their lyrics. On the topic of why I continue
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