If you walk into a parent teacher conference, are you confused about where to sit? Do you know which one is the teacher ‘s desk and which ones are the students’ desks? How? The face of the classroom hasn’t changed in 100 years. It might bring comfort to you to know your place and to […]
Are you confused about where to sit? Read More »
Danny Well makes a good point: In other words, people have to learn uncritical thinking as well; uncritical thinking is also learned activity. Therefore not all teaching and learning is good. How do we differentiate the chad from the wheat? In order to analyze what we want students to learn, we first have to analyze what students
I think schools should seriously consider the tradition of Spring Cleaning and the first thing to go…standardized test. For students young and old, Spring isn’t about New Birth or Hope, rather it is filled with the drudgery of Spring Testing. The windows are shut to keep the bird songs out so that students can concentrate
Michael Smith has it right: They’ve seen this same type of thing happen time and again in education. This too shall pass. They are the ones leading the real charge. They are the ones mumbling and looking at their watches during professional development. They gather in the hallways (often during class time) and point out what’s
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This teacher wasn’t the first to think that taking things apart and putting them back together might be the perfect way to keep students engage and to help them learn. John Dewey started his first school with the idea that “learning by doing” is really the only way that students take learning with them and
Learning Takes Forever Read More »
I’ve realized that I haven’t used this space to talk much about what I am doing day to day, so here we go! Yesterday, I worked with student who finished school in a non-degree program and he is working towards a GED. So I am desperately trying to connect GED vocabulary to experiences and sports
What does a Teacher Without a Classroom do? Read More »
More and more I am wondering whether public schools are about students or money: One of the leading criticisms of voucher programs—and charter and virtual schoolsfor that matter—is that they undermine traditional public schools’ finances by sucking away their per-pupil funding and resources.
Is school about money or students? Read More »
What if we taught students to create and to hone their own voices? What if we taught students to send their story out into the world? What if students got real feedback for telling their own stories? What if school actually helped students discover who they are? What if schools were sets, publishing houses, art
What if schools were sets, publishing houses and art studios? Read More »
A school, finally: During the nine years I have been teaching at my public school, the school has received grades of D, C, B and finally this year we achieved an A. Next year, due to the state of Florida changing the grading standards (which they have done every year since they decided to grade
Schools aren’t people; they are full of people Read More »
