Great leadership is at the helm of any successful endeavor. This is certainly true for education. I pride myself on being a great classroom leader. My students know I run the ship and we've built a relationship of mutual respect, so they gladly follow my lead....
3/4 x 4/3 = 1. Most ninth graders can solve that immediately. Raven, one of the students I tutored as an undergraduate in Baltimore, could not. She was frustrated and discouraged, so I showed her some of the techniques I learned during my own struggles...
My middle school scientists just rocked their science fair. They worked hard and I am deeply inspired by and proud of their results. I teach in Manhattan at a traditional public middle school. My students are 100 percent Latino, 95 percent free lunch, 33 percent English...
Teachers and principals from across the country were recently asked what they thought were the greatest challenges facing the teaching profession. According to MetLife’s Survey of the American Teacher: Challenges for School Leadership, more than 60 percent indicated that the time for meaningful professional development opportunities...
Gray is the color between black and white and it can be created in many ways. There is cool gray and there is warm gray. There are light grays and dark grays. The question is, how do I make the right gray? Do I add...
As I write this article, debates and arguments surrounding teacher evaluations rage from coast to coast. While the introduction of a new teacher evaluation in Georgia hasn’t garnered the same amount of attention as New York or Los Angeles, it’s equally important. Professional teacher organizations had...
Standardized testing is one of the most passionately debated education topics in America. As a veteran teacher with more than 20 years of teaching experience in Missouri and Florida, I say with confidence, my fellow teachers and I are not afraid of evaluation based in...
When parents imagine the ideal school for their kids, many probably envision a place where children can not only master basic skills and content, but also be valued as individuals, encouraged to delve into interesting topics, and safe to take healthy risks. Many schools offer this...
Commonalities Empower Teaching Professionals to Identify, Echo and Amplify Success While much attention and support are properly directed at teacher evaluation reform efforts across states, the time is here to identify the “why” and the “so what.” I write to focus on the “so what,” but...
With the current political climate and gridlock, I find it natural to wonder if our nation will emerge from this pit we have seemed to dive into. It is easy to read and watch the media, and thus become very cynical at the process for...