While I wrote this post ten years ago, I’m still getting heartbreaking comments and emails from veteran teachers with good records and credentials who cannot find teaching positions, despite claims of a teacher shortage. When I first wrote this post in 2015, Jeb Bush was 62, Hillary Clinton was 67, Donald Trump was 69, and […]
Mindfulness Training—Help or Cover-up in Education-Reform Affected Schools?
There’s mindfulness for teachers and mindfulness for students. There’s mindfulness in the UK and mindfulness in the USA. You can find groups that will train teachers and students about mindfulness around the world. But is mindfulness being used to push students and teachers to be robotic? Is it meant to cover up the problems in […]
Using African Americans to Condemn Special Education: The Mixed-Up Message
For a long time special educators and the general public have heard that special education is racist. The story from the school reformers goes something like this: African American students are thrown into segregated special education classes because teachers don’t know how to teach, or they don’t have “high expectations.” If teachers request a special […]
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. […]
25 Reasons Why You Should Appreciate Public School Teachers
Please feel free to add to this list in the comment section. Teachers in public school teach all children—they reject no one. Teachers choose teaching because of their subject and mostly because they like the students. Teachers don’t pick their careers for the money. Their teaching is free (well except for AP). Many teachers pay-out-of-pocket […]
Recess and Behavior Problems Part I: Attitude Adjustment
My recent post “If You’re a Teacher Who Denies Recess…” raised some questions about what a teacher could do if they couldn’t use recess as a bargaining chip to get students to complete their work and/or behave. I thought it was important for me to address these problems. My attempt here is to show that […]
If You’re a Teacher Who Denies Recess…
If you are a teacher in a school where children are lucky enough to get recess, please don’t use it as a disciplinary tool. Don’t deny students with behavioral issues recess for punishment. If you do, not only will you not be doing right by your students, you will risk looking like you know little […]
Real Problems in Education and Teachers Who Cheat
In Memphis, a man who was helping an elderly woman into her car was attacked by a group of young people at a gas station across the street from a school. In another part of town a mom worries about gang retaliation at her child’s high school. Memphis is not alone. No matter what city […]
How to Grow Good Teachers
Here is how those who have power could help teachers in public schools if they really wanted to. They are in no special order. I included these in the post about Nancie Atwell the other day, but I think they are worthy of standing alone. I didn’t want them overshadowed by the Nancie Atwell discussion. […]