Category: Blog

  • Reflections On High Stakes Testing

    Originally posted on chandleredu: While walking through my middle school during summer cleaning, I came across a crumpled page. I picked it up to see if it was anything important. It was hand written in a student’s printing. As I read the content I realized this was some sort of “prewriting” that a student must…

  • Uncommon Core Book Reading: Chapter 19

    On August 24, 2015, I read Chapter 19: Teach Them How to Be Happy from Uncommon Core: 25 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in a Cookie Cutter Educational System at Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, NH. To purchase Uncommon Core, go to WordCrafts Press or Amazon. To schedule a book reading, speaking engagement, or interview contact…

  • Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: August

    What are the best ways parents can help teachers and that teachers can help parents? Communication and honesty are keys to building a positive, healthy relationship between parents and teachers. This relationship is the main reason I wrote Uncommon Core: 25 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in a Cookie Cutter Educational System. I wanted…

  • The New York Times Ponders An Emerging Teacher Shortage

    Originally posted on Daniel Katz, Ph.D.: Motoko Rich of The New York Times wrote a feature article for today’s print edition on the looming teacher shortage, and that nationwide scramble to fill available teaching positions.  Predictions of a future teacher shortage are hardly new.  Consider this Senate hearing where the then frequently made prediction that…

  • 15 Truths of Having Your Child Diagnosed with Cancer 

    Originally posted on acancermomslife: I had guessed how bad it would be when I heard my 19 month old had cancer. I imagined a million different scenarios in my head: some of which would happen while others did not. The Internet has been circulating “10 things you didn’t know about this” or “The top 15…

  • Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: July

    What are several real ways you have seen bullying reduced? The only way to reduce bullying is for parents and teachers to take an active role in teaching and role modeling respect for other people to the children in their lives. Most “bullying” is due to a lack of respect for another person, plain and…

  • Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: June

    What are the best ways a teacher can demonstrate leadership in the classroom? One of my former students asked me questions about my teaching experiences for a college class she was taking. One of those questions was “What encourages teachers to become leaders?” My answer to that question as well as a few others formed…

  • Uncommon Core Book Trailer

  • Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: May

    What are the quick ways to combat teacher stress in a classroom? The problem with classroom stress is that it rarely comes from being in the classroom with the students. If teachers are experiencing stress with students, those teachers might need to rethink what they have chosen as a profession. I get rejuvenated in the…

  • Uncommon Core: Book Review by Dennis McCarthy

     In Uncommon Core: 25 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in a Cookie Cutter Educational System, Pauline Hawkins shares stories from her 11 years of experiences as a high school English teacher to help parents and students prepare for the American school system.  The tales range from the touching and uplifting to the surprisingly poignant, and…