Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! (recent election). Now that I have that out of my system, this is a blog post about school choice. Sometimes, I feel like I’m the only person who thinks that “school choice” is a bad idea. Public discourse is
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My Quiet Rage: Against Objectives
I’ll just say it: I resent writing objectives. For those of you who may not teach, I offer a brief primer. Teachers are required to teach to the standards. Teachers generally plan units which target specific standards. Within each daily
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A Neglected Anniversary in Science Education
We didn’t light the autumn sky with homemade rockets or harness the wind to electrify remote villages. But in 1974 a group of juniors sitting in the back of biology hung on every word our teacher said, because we never knew when
Read MoreEducators: Are you talking about this election?
Dear educators, this is just a quick post to ask the question, “Are you talking about this upcoming election in the community?” If you aren’t, I believe that you should be. The state election of the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
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Connected Educator Month
Did you know that October was “Connected Educator Month”? On Saturday in an effort to avoid the work I initially sat down to complete I decided to look into this Connected Educator thing a bit closer. I initially came across
Read MoreI Don’t Use Rewards — But My School Does
When I set up my classroom as a first-year teacher, I created a daily game system where students would compete Jeopardy-style, for intellectual dominance. The winning groups would receive candy bars. I also added a Spencer Store, with photocopied artificial
Read MoreTeacher wellness: On the decline?
Want to know what I’ve been wondering about lately? I want to know if teacher health/wellness is declining amidst the pressure of educational reform today. A few days ago, I was walking behind a colleague and noticed that this person
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When is Enough, Enough?
“Ugh not another test!” That was one of the first things one of my students said to me this morning. In my head, I thought, “You ain’t kidding, kid!” Out loud though, I exclaimed, “This isn’t a test, it’s an
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