If any of my students have kept those black composition books that we used as writer’s notebooks. I wonder if they run across them in their rooms or closets or under their beds and remember our class community. I wonder if they remember that for that little bit of time they were writers and dreamers. …
Ok, that last video I posted was not true. Plain as that. This is not as easy as sitting in front of your computer. This is hard. Really hard. I’ve been at this for 5 hours and I am still nowhere close to being ready. Maybe this is not for me after all.
It’s not surprising to find that education is a huge market: The K-12 market is tantalizingly huge: The U.S. spends more than $500 billion a year to educate kids from ages five through 18. The entire education sector, including college and mid-career training, represents nearly 9 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, more than the …
In a recent board meeting, I heard the phrase “teacher affiliate.” Having been to Affiliate Summit, my ears perked up and I wondered if my worlds were colliding. Here’s how this works in the teaching world: There are national professional development groups. These groups need teachers as members. Therefore, they national professional development groups form …
I’ve been on enough runs that I know a good one within the first couple of steps. I know whether my breathing is labored or whether it feels like my legs are stuck in molasses. When either of these things are off, then I know that the run is going to be one that I …
New forms of labeling students like Common Core, don’t change the underlying assumption: In education, as in society, holding individuals accountable for their actions is a powerful paradigm within a meritocracy. If all is equitable, then human choices and behaviors are more easily assigned in a causational way to individuals. Political and public discourse as …
Really, Congress can’t regulate? Maybe not directly, but certainly indirectly they have! To backtrack: the Common Core State Standards are not federal standards. After all, the U.S. Constitution gives Congress no authority to fund or regulate schools or control curriculum, standards, or policy. But at its annual fall meeting in 2008, after previous informal discussions, …
Isn’t it sad that we can all identify with the chart paper PD? That’s right. This isn’t just your average “show up for a few hours and write on chart paper”-type training event. ”Apple Cores” as we call them, are put through an intense experience of collaboration, sharing, and even….*gasp*…failing. This is one that so …
Not a bad idea with election season coming up: The program to reward high-performing teachers with salary stipends is part of a long-term effort by President Obama to encourage education in high-demand areas that hold the key to future economic growth — and to close the achievement gap between American students and their international peers. But this …
I saw a flag on the car that pulled out in front of me. It was one of those flags that you close into your window, but this one wasn’t to support a certain team. It was an American flag and as it blew in the wind, it reminded me of my grandparents’ car. They …
