Teaching in a new school comes with many new experiences. This year has been my “second first year” of teaching and it has been exhausting and challenging but also rewarding. One thing that I’m experiencing this year for the first time is having a group of “honors” students. <context> School size = ~1,800 % free [...]
Entries Tagged 'ed reform' ↓
Teaching “honors” students
February 26, 2013 — ed reform, educational philosophy
Setting the bar low
October 4, 2012 — ed reform, professional development
My new school district is voluntarily using the process outlined by Washington State’s Teacher & Principal Evaluation Pilot (TPEP). As of the 2013-14 school year, all districts in Washington will use the new evaluation process. I’m already experiencing its negative effects… At the beginning of the year, all teachers were required to create Professional Growth [...]
I teach in a “failing” school and you should too
August 5, 2011 — ed reform, educational philosophy, leadership, professional development
“Welcome to White Swan, where you can teach whatever you want – even if it’s nothing at all.” ~ anonymous former colleague ——— “If you can teach here, you can teach anywhere” ~ anonymous colleague ——— I work in a very small rural school located in a high poverty area on an Indian Reservation. Funding is [...]
Is this really inquiry?
June 29, 2011 — ed reform, inquiry
Is this really inquiry? Hint: Who is asking the questions? Nice try, though AP!
How can the culture of a school be changed?
April 30, 2011 — ed reform, educational philosophy
I threw this question out on Twitter a week or so ago and got a fair number of responses. One of the most reasoned responses came from Edna Sackson, an educator from Australia and the author of the blog What Ed Said. Edna shares many of my views on the importance of inquiry and we [...]
Freakonomics and education
December 22, 2010 — ed reform, learning
This post began as a comment on Joe Bower’s blog, for the love of learning, in response to his post, “Shame on you Steven Levitt.” I’ve been listening to Steven Levitt’s Freakonomics the past week while commuting. While I find the perspective and insight fascinating, I truly detested Levitt’s handling of the “cheating teachers” studies in [...]
Wait ’till next year
December 15, 2010 — ed reform, leadership, motivation
Why put off for next year what you can do today (or at least tomorrow)? —————————————————————————————————————————- In the 1940′s and 1950′s, the Brooklyn Dodgers fans’ rallying cry was, “wait ’til next year!” The team would come close to a championship only to lose the World Series (usually to the hated Yankees). This fan attitude showed undying [...]
