Shame, Shame, Everyone Knows Your Name

Today the New York Department of Education decided to release a lot of test scores to the public. That way, anyone can look up a teacher and see how his/her students performed. I thought long and hard about why they would possibly want to do this, and I came up with five possible reasons. Unfortunately, […]

Snapping

Shutting up is really the more interesting part of teaching. Now, I like to mouth off and tell people what to do. Don’t get me wrong. But watching the kids listen is amazing. We had a poet come in to meet some students yesterday. This guy is from where they are from. He says a […]

Eulogy for No Child Left Behind

Although no one seemed to pay it much attention, seeing as how the economy continues to behave like a two-year-old without a nap, No Child Left Behind died on August 8, 2011. After nine years of causing teachers and administrators great heartache, the federal powers that be quietly said, “Our bad,” and went back into […]

Setting the Stage

For teachers, the last year was a new high in disrespect. But I’ve learned a lot from all the media coverage of education– I didn’t merely get beaten like a red-headed stepchild– and it helps me plan this next year. 1. An amazing number of people think they are experts in teaching because they were […]