I am reviving an old post that raises questions about the relevancy of the Individualized Educational Plan when it is written according to the general grade level content standards. If everyone is expected to be alike, how important is the IEP? Under the Every Student Succeeds Act almost all students with disabilities must follow the […]
Teacher Age Discrimination During a So-Called Teacher Shortage
Jeb Bush is 62. Hillary Clinton is 67. Donald Trump is 69 and Bernie Sanders is 73. If these individuals were teaching in a public school, and not famous politicians, what would you bet that they’d still be working? How many older teachers do you know who are still teaching? While there is much gnashing […]
Senator Bernie Sanders and K-12 Education: We’re Listening!
Bernie fever is sweeping the Internet. I like Sen. Sanders. He says a lot of things that make me want to jump up and shout YES! You Go Bernie! But I, like many others, am still listening for the specifics when it comes to education and public schools. On the issue of K-12 education he […]
Students and Bears, Oh My! How Common Core Discards the Importance of Reasoning and Intuition
This post is about reasoning and intuition with students and bears, and what we have lost by focusing on Common Core State Standards and not the students themselves. There are interesting similarities. Let me start with bears. I just returned from visiting Glacier National Park. Glacier is full of bears—both grizzlies and black bears. So, […]
Stealing the Joy of Reading—How Common Core Destroys Reading Pleasure
Who would have believed that it would come to this? Education Week is having a webinar on new approaches to reading aloud in K-2nd grade (New Strategies for Reading Aloud to K-2 Students, Thurs. June 18, 2-3 p.m ET). The underwriting for the webinar is through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with Common […]
The Scientific BS Surrounding Common Core and Teaching Vocabulary
I am going to be a BS detector. The Common Core State Standards are made to appear complicated. Fancy codes and scientific sounding big words are used to wow the public. But if you look at the standards, they’re nothing innovative or new! Take vocabulary. Teachers have been teaching vocabulary since the beginning of time. […]
The Common Core “Deep Learning” Message that All Students are Gifted is Wrong
…in the ordinary elementary school situation, children of 140 IQ waste half their time. Those of 170 IQ waste practically all their time. — gifted education pioneer Leta Hollingworth, found in Genius Denied, by Jan and Bob Davidson A recent report implied that with the right kind of environment and “deep learning” everyone can be […]
Susan Ohanian Champion of Children
One of the nice things about having a blog is you can write about people who you respect and admire. I have not written for a while about anyone, because there are so many people who grab my attention every day for all the positive things they do for children. And also because there are […]
Laura Ingalls Wilder Meets Common Core
When I was a child, in 3rd grade, I fell in love with Little House in the Big Woods. I distinctly remember locating it in the little classroom library. I am not sure if I read it before or after Caddie Woodlawn, another fine chapter book about strong pioneer girls. There were no benchmarks—I don’t […]
How to Be a Nice Teacher When You’re Mad and Treated Badly
I wanted to write something that had to do with teachers in relationship to Martin Luther King Day and this is what I came up with. Teachers are genuinely nice people. If you work with children you teach them to be nice and respectful to others. Most people go into teaching because they are happy […]