All heed Nancie Atwell – and ignore her work at our collective peril.
Nancie Atwell recently published this article in Education Week about THE CASE FOR LITERATURE. It’s well worth a read. Perhaps one of the most telling parts of the article comes from this passage where...
View ArticleMy Question About National Standards
One question that has longed bothered me about all of the conversation regarding having one set of national standards for all American schoolchildren is, “If we are going to have standards at all, why...
View ArticleIf merit plays no role, our institution of public education will crumble.
So since I am in the mood to offer up so many thoughts as of late about how to re-shape K-12 education (heck, who isn’t doing it these days) I thought I’d chime in on the silliness of the manner …...
View ArticleI just got a message from Arne Duncan.
I just got a message from Arne Duncan. An email actually. Here’s what he sent to me: As our nation observes Teacher Appreciation Week, I am pleased to send this message to recent Teachers of the Year,...
View ArticleThe private schools smell blood in the water
The private schools smell blood in the water… and they are turning the screws. In an interesting case of “let’s shore up our finances while the time is ripe to do so”, the Saddle River Day School has...
View ArticleSchool would be just great if only…
Have you ever noticed that some teachers think the work of being an educator would be absolutely awesome if it wasn’t for the damn kids? Or those stinkin’ parents? Or those silly administrators? Or...
View ArticleA dangerous weapon in education.
I had a chat with a Superintendent the other day, a guy who earned a PhD at the age of 36. (gotta be somewhat bright, right?) And he told me that his high school counselor once asked him during his …...
View ArticleYou gotta walk a mile in a teacher’s moccasins before you can dictate the...
We’re looking for new ideas right now in education, right? Well, how about this one: You can’t be an administrator with decision making power over a teacher unless you have once been a teacher...
View ArticleTablet-based education just inched that much closer.
Amazon’s announcement of the new Kindle Fire has certainly caused a ton of people to weigh in in all sorts of ways on the implications for us “user folks”. Some will be right, some will be wrong but...
View ArticleStudent assemblies and encouraging dreamers
The other day I wrote a blog which began with the line, “When I enter the schools of other teachers wearing my hat of “YA author” to do student assemblies, I am treated to a rare vantage point.” First...
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