I’ve been rereading Uncommon Core in preparation for planning out my next book, and I have to tell you, it’s giving me the feels. I’ve cried through every chapter, remembering the connection I had with my students and the lessons we learned from each other. In some ways, it’s a hard book to market becauseContinue reading “A book for everyone”
Category Archives: Education Reformation
Questions about my Animal Farm Social Experiment
It’s interesting how many teachers email me about a post I wrote six years ago, Animal Farm Lessons. People can read it at HuffPost or in my book Uncommon Core, so it’s easy to find it if they are looking for lesson plans for Animal Farm. Today, I spent some time answering these questions: 1.Continue reading “Questions about my Animal Farm Social Experiment”
July Discussion: If you were calling the shots how would you change ongoing professional development for teachers in your community?
If I were calling the shots, I would make sure professional development was relevant and appropriate for the grade level and subject matter. Too often teachers are forced to sit through a professional development class that does not apply to the subject and/or grade level they teach. One year, all of my high-school colleagues hadContinue reading “July Discussion: If you were calling the shots how would you change ongoing professional development for teachers in your community?”
May Discussion with Global Teacher Bloggers: What do teachers most want to tell parents?
What do teachers most want to tell parents? “Effective parenting refers to carrying out the responsibilities of raising and relating to children in such a manner that the child is well prepared to realize his or her full potential as a human being. It is a style of raising children that increases the chances ofContinue reading “May Discussion with Global Teacher Bloggers: What do teachers most want to tell parents?”
The Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: March 2017
What roles do teachers have in creating kind and compassionate citizens? Teaching is about investing in our future. Teachers need to do more than teach content. We are so much more than knowledge transmitters and test proctors. We are human beings that have made it our life’s mission to improve the world through nurturing, guidingContinue reading “The Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: March 2017”
The Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: February 2017
How do we teach young people the rigorous critical thinking and research skills to distinguish news from propaganda? How do we ensure the next generation is one which communicates civically, values honesty, and recognizes reality? First, we have to have courses for young people to take that are centered on critical thinking. Most college campusesContinue reading “The Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: February 2017”
“Volunteering” by guest blogger Felicia Thomas
As a college writing teacher, I have the pleasure of helping my students discover their writing voice and their passions in life. Every once and a while I will read an essay that I need to post on my blog because it lines up with my goals, which is to help people find their own healthyContinue reading ““Volunteering” by guest blogger Felicia Thomas”
Guest Blogger: Letter to President-elect Trump
For their Critical Thinking final, my students had to write a letter to President-elect Trump or to their generation. CJ’s Letter to President-elect Trump is insightful and unbiased (in my biased opinion?). He eloquently expresses what is at the heart of our fears and hopes with Trump’s election. I think the most beautiful part of thisContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Letter to President-elect Trump”
Guest Blogger: Letter to Millennials
As a college writing teacher, I have the pleasure of helping my students discover their writing voice and their passions in life. Every once and a while I will read an essay that I need to post on my blog because it lines up with my goals, which is to help people find their own healthyContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Letter to Millennials”
The Problem with Choice
I know too many people who are not educators (and some who are) that are in favor of the choice movement in education. The biggest reason people want choice is to improve the education for their own children and then create competition so that other schools will be forced to improve or shut down. Unfortunately,Continue reading “The Problem with Choice”
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