Me: Hey Son, what do you think about the claim that teachers make 3000 non-trivial decisions a day? Son: Well, they make a lot, maybe 100, but you’ve got to be realistic. And realistic is exactly what everyone (and it
Read MoreWhy Differentiate in Class if We Don’t Differentiate in the Real World?
At an event the other day with a group of teachers I had just met, one made the offhand comment that the real world doesn’t differentiate. Her opinion was met with general agreement by the other teachers. The undertone of
Read MoreLearning to Help Students With Mental Health Disorders
Narcissistic, sociopathic, obsessive compulsive, oppositional defiant, bipolar, passive aggressive, depression, and anxiety. That could be my characterization of this year’s presidential candidates and my state of mind when I think about it. But not quite. Rather, I’m referring to mental health conditions from which
Read MoreThe Lawmakers’ Hands Were Shaking
A couple of weeks ago I joined members of our local union in Phoenix to meet and talk with state lawmakers. During this event I had a chance to learn about current education related bills from the union’s lobbyist, hear from several legislators
Read MoreImposter Syndrome or a Humility Check?
Are teacher leaders wizards or masons? The mason throws the mortar and trowels it smooth, lays the brick and taps it level. Each brick contributes incrementally to the wall, which defines the room, and room-by-room the house is built. The mason stands
Read MoreDo Common Core Advocates Lack Historical Context?
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” Winston Churchill How can the creators and advocates of the Common Core rationalize locking the profession into years more of high stakes testing, complete with the attendant bullet list of
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Grit Vs. The Virtue of Giving Up
Bill Ferriter, In a recent Tempered Radical post, The Poisonous Mythology of Grittiness, relates a recent conversation about grit that he had with John Spenser. The crux of their discussion was that grit is too often defined as working through set-backs and “buckling down and
Read MoreTrading Bad Behavior for Good Behavior
Years ago, when they were still small, my boys were helping my wife make pot roast. The first thing she did was cut off four inches of good meat and throw it away. “Why’d you cut off that good meat
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Arguing With Students: It’s All About the Toothpaste
Two classroom management challenges came up recently in my engineering classes. In the first, two friends were horsing around and did some minor, easy to fix damage to their projects. Each claimed the other had started it. In the second,
Read MoreAn Aggressive Reply to Common Core Advocates
My opinion of the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards has followed a path from cautious support to grudging support to undecided to qualified disapproval to outright opposition. My scorn for their implementation has never varied. I’ve written that teachers who support the standards
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