Earlier this week, I had a chance to give a short speech at the White House ConnectEd to the Future Summit. It was a surreal experience to get a chance to meet President Obama and Secretary Duncan in person. I was
Read MoreGuest Teaching as Civic Duty
Like jurors, substitute teachers should be drawn from the public as part of one’s civic duty, at least according to a colleague. Among other things, pulling subs from the public could create more awareness of life in our public schools, get
Read MoreSchool choice: An attack on traditional public schools
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
Read MoreMy 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
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 MoreTYLTS Day: One day, many lessons
Last week, I had the incredible privilege of hosting Representative Jonathan Larkin (District 30) at my school for the first annual Take Your Legislator to School Day (TYLTS). TYLTS Day originated under the leadership of Bobbie O’Boyle (Arizona Education Foundation)
Read MoreTime to Grow: To Grade or to Kick Butt?
Today, a student resentfully announced in class that there was no grade in the gradebook for an essay he wrote. A month ago. I couldn’t argue. It has been sitting in the “Speedgrader” of my digital classroom for several weeks.
Read MoreWhy Teachers Are Still the Experts
Sandy wrote a great post offering some push-back about the statement teachers make that “your experience as a student doesn’t make you an expert on teaching and learning.” It was the kind of post I needed to read, because I
Read MoreIt’s Harder to Speak Up When It’s Local
I am bothered by certain things in my district. I think it's irresponsible to spend half a million dollars a year on the digital worksheet program Success Maker. I think we lose too many days to testing and we misuse
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How About Just One Standard?
I’ve been thinking – and the current controversy involving our state superintendent only makes it clearer to me – that we should agree on a curriculum of simply one standard. I know it sounds crazy, but hey, Jack Black
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