Spending time studying how to teach and how children learn has been replaced with fast-track programs that breed future workers. These people know little about children, but they follow the script. They will keep children focused on their computer lessons, and collect data on their progress. It’s like getting on a plane and learning the […]
Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents
It’s the use of only technology in education without qualified teachers that is the concern. It’s “tech without teachers” and without public school buildings, a sense of community, student socializing, and the misuse of data collected on children that keep parents and teachers up at night! The problem is that there is a concerted effort […]
“Disruption” Using Technology is Dangerous to Child Development and Public Education
Public schools continuously change to keep up with progress. Technology has much to offer. But the idea that instruction should be disrupted using technology is putting students and the country at risk. It destroys the public school curriculum that has managed to educate the masses for decades. Disruption is a troubling word when referring to […]
Failing Public School Infrastructure Makes Way for Microenvironments
…the nation continues to underinvest in school facilities, leaving an estimated $38 billion annual gap. ~2017 Infrastructure Report on Schools by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Classrooms or microenvironments? For years, the condition of public school facilities has received D ratings from the American Society of Civil Engineers. They claim the gap in funding […]
What’s Behind TIME Magazine’s Teacher Hate Turnaround?
The recent TIME Magazine article about teachers describes beaten-down, courageous individuals, struggling to remain in a profession where they are not honored like they deserve. TIME seems to suddenly love teachers. It had those of us who support public schools and teachers scratching our heads. TIME hasn’t been kind to teachers in the past. Remember […]
Those Who Seek to Privatize Public Schools are Working WITHIN the System!
Since the anonymous New York Times Opinon piece claiming there’s a critic in the White House, at least one comedian has referenced the 2006 remake horror movie When a Stranger Calls. The babysitter contacts the police to get threatening phone calls traced. The bad guy turns out to be in the house! On a similar, […]
What’s Better than Grit? Reading Books and a Good Teacher
Angela Duckworth graces the Costco Connection this month talking about the character grit that she says made her who she is today. She wants America to teach children to have grit too, so they will be successful. She has a Grit Scale. HERE. And she runs a character lab. Her grit goals for children include […]
Teachers, Hold On to Your Desks! YOU Make Instruction Work!
Teachers, hold on to your desks! Your classroom footprint matters! It’s always a thrill this time of year to see teachers on social media showing off their classrooms. Not only are teachers proud of their workspace, they understand that the ambience in those rooms is critical to how students feel about learning and school. Teachers often dip […]
Who Arne Duncan is Today Speaks To His Past Role as Education Secretary
Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently stepped away from his ventures to discuss his new book How Schools Work: An Inside Account of Failure and Success from One of the Nation’s Longest Serving Secretaries of Education. Few teachers were impressed with Duncan in this role. He never worked in a school. He’d never been a […]
Does this Summer Reading Program Bypass Librarians, Teachers, and Fun, While Tracking Students?
READS is a summer program for disadvantaged children promoted by the i3 (Investing in Innovation) Fund and The Wallace Foundation. It uses computer algorithms to figure out a student’s interests. Next, it matches them to books. It gives students in kindergarten through fifth grade 10 free books, but there are strings attached. Both the i3 […]