Across the country, many teachers are arriving to work to find banners that say “We Appreciate You,” continental breakfasts laid out in the staff lounge, and “Thank You” cards placed in their mailboxes. I’ll be honest, I’ve never really been ‘into’ Teacher Appreciation Week. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate being appreciated. What I don’t…
As many of you may know, April is National Poetry Month. There was a time, before full time teaching, blogging, #edchat-ing, edcamping, food co-oping and other endeavors that I wrote poetry on a fairly consistent basis. It was my grounding force, my way of grappling with the world, questions, uncertainty, joy, sorrow, conundrums, beauty, ugliness…
When I picked up the book Curriculum 21 a couple of years ago it was very refreshing to hear what I considered at that time a voice of reason in education. I was particularly struck by Jacob’s metaphor of upgrading the system completely rather than tweaking it. I also found the website full of great…
As a member of the press here at ASCD’s annual conference, I was lucky enough to sit and talk with Liliana Aquas and Matt McClure, the Outstanding Young Educators over lunch. It was an inspiring dialogue. Liliana, who works at Leconte Elementary School in Berkeley, CA, did not start out wanting to be an educator….
As I reflect on my day at ASCD’s conference, I will be thinking and reflecting on a lot of topics and discussions. The one that really struck me, however, I feel I must reflect on first. My last session of the day was one that I was really looking forward to. I am not one…
My first day at ASCD’s annual conference was excellent. I am still sifting through the day in my Evernote notebook. I have, however, looked forward to tomorrow’s sessions a bit and here are the ones that have grabbed my eye: Session 2162 — Overcoming Deficit Thinking: Strategies for Working with Low Income Students 8:30-9:00am Session…
After a day and half of great conversation hosted by Discovery Education with a group of educators for whom I have the utmost respect, I’m not sure if I am able to walk away with any solutions or magic bullets. What I am able to walk away with is a better idea of what I envision…
I am humbled to be part of a team of educators, many of whom are esteemed peers, converging in a little under a week at Discovery Education headquarters to discuss the future of the textbook, specifically the digital textbook. As an elementary teacher, I know that my opinions and experiences with textbooks differ from those who…
One of my favorite things to do while sifting through my Twitter timeline is to lurk in on other people’s conversations. That’s the nice thing about the tool itself. It’s like sitting in a big room and listening in on other people’s conversations. I often learn a lot. This week I listened in on a…
Today as I sat in a session at PETE & C about Acceptable Use Policies, there was a discussion about ‘the IT guy’ and working with ‘him’ and making sure that ‘he’ is on your side. After hearing numerous adults refer to ‘the IT guy’ over and over, I became more and more irritated. When are…