At the Arizona K12 Center’s Teacher Leadership Institute last summer, the phrase of the week was “solutions-oriented.” Strategically, this angle is necessary for teachers to be heard in education reform. The stereotype of the bitter, worn-down, socially stunted school-marm in
Read MoreA Proper Thank You Note
I publicly thank our district for the level of support they gave our cohort throughout the National Board process. I hope that by doing this publicly, other districts might have a template they could follow in providing support to NBC candidates.
Read MoreThe Tassel’s Not a Hassle*
Sometimes it is frighteningly transparent who is profiting from access to our schools.
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Teacher Pay: The Opaque Fiction of Salary Schedules
There are pay inequities in teaching that are almost invisible to the public. Inequities that most teachers are not willing to discuss because salary is such a personal issue. Personal? You might ask. But I thought pay scales were public documents? Sure. They are. They are also fictional. Read on…
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Am I Teaching For Creativity?
I just finished a professional book study through the Arizona K12 Center. We read and discussed Sir Ken Robinson’s book Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, and I think there is a lot for schools to take to heart
Read MoreIf We are Interchangeable, are We Invisible?
I share the exciting drama of leaving lesson plans with a substitute. What will await the absent teacher upon her return? All will be reavealed…
Read MoreInvisible Data
I indulge my yearning to simply immerse myself in teaching and with my students without having to collect easily-reportable data for folks not involved in my classroom. One solution is to provide funding or change the school day to allow teachers more time to gather data for public consumption and for use in the classroom.
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Out of My Mind?
Sometimes as teachers, factors in our lives converge to provide a valuable epiphany about what we really need.
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Who are We Protecting?
I explore what happens to individual teachers and students when even the best policies are not given the resources they need to function as intended, using the example of mandatory reporting laws.
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