It’s natural to think that the answers to today’s education questions lie somewhere on a continuum between two extremes: How much autonomy should students have – all or none? Hmmmm…. probably somewhere in the middle. Where should curriculum decisions be made –
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It’s hard this time of the year not to get overwhelmed and consumed preparing for the state assessments. Our emails and meeting agendas are flooded with updates and reports about when the test pallets will arrive at district and when
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In Our Biggest Failure, Mike Lee wrote in this space that all other problems in education: Pale in comparison to our students’ ultimate inability or unwillingness to think for themselves, to recognize learning and inquiry as enjoyable, identify their own biases
Read MoreI just ordered a book, and I can’t wait to get it. Yesterday, I attended a panel presentation on Tempe’s ASU campus. The authors of 50 Myths and Lies that Threaten America’s Public Schools: The Real Crisis in Education presented
Read MoreI wrote a post about how we should change professional development. It had hundreds of tweets and eight thousand page views. People gave it the best possible digital thumbs up they could offer. Talking about professional development is easy, especially
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I knew it was time, over twenty years of teaching treasures. I was that teacher, the one who bought six copies of a book so I could use it for a small group reading activity or so more than one
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Melissa is one of my seniors. She has been interning all year at Ben's Bells, a local organization whose mission is to spread kindness through awareness and action. For her Senior Impact Project (required of all seniors), Melissa was determined
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In 1910 William Howard Taft was president of 46 states. Thomas Edison demonstrated talking movies. Mark Twain and O. Henry died. Mother Theresa and Dizzy Dean were born. So was my father, August Merz, Jr. And The Carnegie Foundation
Read MoreTesting Day is silent, of course, but teachers are not even allowed to examine or discuss the state standardized assessments after the fact. I can’t see how this helps advance teaching and learning.
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