Just in time for the holidays! I have blogged about not letting the current issues in public schools steal the today that you have enjoying your children and helping them to learn. I know that is easier said than done. But the teacher and mom in me wants to step away from criticism against Common […]
Does the Tea Party Love Teach for America?
I read an interesting blog post by Plunderbund all about Teach for America in Ohio. Cleveland pays $9,000 (for two years) in addition to regular salaries and benefits to hire TFA. In other places, like Memphis and Pittsburg, Bill Gates foots the initial bill to TFA, usually about $5,000 per teacher, and then the school […]
What Part of Individual Educational Plan Don’t They Understand?
A recent Ed. Week article, “Common Core’s Promise Collides with IEP Realities,” claims, “Special Education teachers struggle to make sure individual education programs align with standards.” Wow! You could have fooled me! I thought IEPs were tailored to student needs, not to the Common Core State Standards. But really, aligning IEPs to the standards—has been […]
The Hurtful Reality of High Stakes Testing—Let Them Eat Cake!
Last Thursday night I had the honor to sit on a panel of distinguished educators, parents, a school board member, and two students, in Jackson, TN. The event covered standardized testing and was sponsored by the Tennessee Education Association (TEA). While this meeting was held in Tennessee, my guess is meetings like this can be […]
Are You a Coach or a Teacher?
The “coaching” post generated criticism. Several individuals argued that coaching can include good attributes and there is nothing wrong with the term. Some teachers, who have been or are currently called coaches, took offense. I am not criticizing teachers/coaches personally. I never said that if you have the title coach, you are not a good […]
“Coaching” Applied to Teaching–Why I Don’t Like It
“Teaching Coaches” have become commonplace as public school curriculum is converted to Common Core. The plan is to enlist teachers, lots of them, to coach other teachers how to instruct using Common Core. In most places these teaching coaches get a stipend of $5-6,000 to help transform a school district into a Common Core wonderland. […]
What Really Scares Parents IS Arne Duncan!
Yesterday we learned what Arne Duncan said—in support of Common Core State Standards. At first I didn’t think I could write about it because it made me sick. But then I decided I had to write about it. From The Washington Post: Duncan said, “It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming […]
Examining Common Core’s Answer for Student Differences–UDL
All this said, here is the link to UDL so you can follow. If it makes better sense to you, by all means let me know http://www.udlcenter.org/. One issue, I would question, is found on the first link that students will “Know how to set challenging learning goals for themselves.” Do students really set learning […]
Why Did Parents Ever Allow the Loss of Recess?
The Alliance for Childhood just printed Olga Jarrett’s research showing the importance of research http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/Recess_online.pdf. I admire the good work of Olga Jarrett. I even posted a tribute to her awhile back. There is a lot of other great research out there to show the importance of recess, along with books on the subject. There’s […]
Why Education Reformers Worry about Special Education
I heard someone, a parent or teacher, blurt out at an informal education meeting, that education reformers are afraid of special education. I think that person is right. I don’t think many of those currently in charge of redoing public schools understand anything about special ed. students and how they learn. I think they must […]