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28 Mar Drawing Inspiration from Past Experience

Posted at 17:38h in Education

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...

18 Mar Teacher Evaluation: Don’t Forget the Science Fairs

Posted at 17:42h in Education

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...

06 Mar Teacher Development Should Not Be a Luxury – It Must

Posted at 17:48h in Education

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...

27 Feb Why Even Art Teachers Have a Problem With Standardized Testing

Posted at 17:54h in Education

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...

25 Feb Op-Ed: This Is What’s Wrong With Teacher Evaluations

Posted at 17:58h in Education

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...

22 Feb Standardized Tests: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly

Posted at 18:01h in Education

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...