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15 Dec What I Am: A Teacher

Posted at 21:52h in Education

Today is my sixtieth birthday. In Chinese tradition, I am told, a person reaching this age begins life anew, starting over as a young child. I love this image of a very mature adult putting aside the serious and mundane to frolic in the delights...

18 Nov Inspiring the Teachers of Tomorrow

Posted at 21:53h in Education

One of my most profound written assignments happened when I was in elementary school. I remember it because it happened right after an exciting career day presentation, during which we got to meet a firefighter, policeman, doctor, and even a dentist. It was fun to...

12 Nov Making a Grande Difference in Education

Posted at 00:32h in Education

Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, once said that in order for the company to be successful, customers were going to have to have an “experience” with the product. It was going to have to be about more than just a cup of coffee. Their restaurants...

10 Nov Common Core: A Necessary, But Insufficient, Change In Education Standards

Posted at 00:40h in Education

When I first started teaching in 2009, I was surprised by something that was missing from my classroom: We did not have any textbooks for the courses that I was supposed to teach. For the next 4 years, I worked hard handcrafting all of the...

27 Oct Keeping Young Teachers in the Classroom

Posted at 14:05h in Education

I teach 8th grade and I am 24. When I started in the classroom two years ago, I was not even a decade older than my students. Responses to new, young teachers can be mildly amusing, like when field trip docents ask where the teacher...

20 Oct Geography is NOT Destiny: Charter Schools and Choice

Posted at 14:19h in Education

Elana’s mom drives past four different schools to get to ours. “It’s a lot of driving,” she says, “but Elana has a home here.” It has not been an easy journey. Elana’s home school is 9 miles away—an eternity of lethargic traffic signals for a...