Tenure! Is it vitally important or an obsolete concept?
The recent court decision throwing out seniority as the be all and end all of who gets pink-slipped in the Los Angeles public schools has stoked a firestorm of discussion. Seniority in universities and public schools is often equated with being tenured. Roughly speaking, all faculty fall into two categories: …
Pop Quiz: Teaching vs Professing
If, in conversation with someone, I mention that I teach they generally ask “what grade?” I am quick to say that I teach college, not K-12 and I’m not a teacher. Some have thought that calling themselves a professor is pretentious. When I started to think about this topic as …
Student Astounded: Teacher Does Not Get Summer Break!!
This post should have a tag on it called JoDee’s Tiny Rants. Before the end of the semester I had a student ask me in passing what I was going to be doing with my free time this summer. I told him (with a tiny laugh) that I would be …
CCSS Fatigue Being Exploited by Religious Right, Gay Teen Denied Her Senior Yearbook Picture, Pledge Court Decision, Tablet Technology: Required Readings 05.18.14
A new report is out this week from the Southern Poverty Law Center about how the Common Core is being used as a rallying cry for those with ideological opposition to secular, public schools. The director of the SPLC was interviewed by Salon.com, and she provided a cogent and articulate …
Wyoming Rejects NGSS, More Common Core, Take Better Notes: Required Readings 05.11.14
I think we can all agree that when evaluating how well science education policy is being implemented in a state, Kansas is a pretty low bar. Yet, this week Wyoming made a bold move to duck under the bar. Citizens of Wyoming slapped their foreheads in unison as their …
Pop Quiz: Access Denied
Time out. A phone call home. Copying out the school rules. Detention. Exclusion. A move of class. All popular high school sanctions, all designed to mould behaviour in a particular way, and all very often quite ineffective. Anyone who’s worked in an average high school for even a short amount …
Common Criticisms: Required Readings 05.05.14
I’m an educator in a public high school in a state where the Common Core is currently being implemented. I’ve sent two cohorts through the state testing cycle, and I’m in the final month preparing a third. I’m still struggling to figure out how I feel about CCSS. Mostly that’s …
Pop Quiz – Not with a Bang but a Whimper
Oh dear. Prank day. Today was the last formal school day for our senior year. They have various exams to sit over the next month and they have their prom after the exams, but today was their final timetabled day. They’re a nice group of students and my form …
Pop Quiz – The Man Who Hates Teachers
This is Michael Gove. Michael Gove is the Secretary of State for Education in England, meaning that he is the person in overall charge of the UK Government Department of Education. Michael Gove has never been a teacher. Before entering politics, he was a journalist who wrote for …
Common Core is going to EAT CHRISTIAN CHILDREN
I never heard of Sandy Rios, of the American Family Association, but you can bet I will be hanging on her every word from now on because she is clearly AWESOME. Check out her measured, thoughtful assessment of Common Core State Standards as she discusses their implications with a gentleman …