An archived stack of papers: 'Reform'
Wanted: Creative Ideas
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Mar
- 23
- 2010
Anyone out there have some creative ways their district is cutting costs? We’ve got zero creativity and, honestly, never really have. Yesterday was a day for our Sup to come tell us what we already know about the budget and for him to politic during the Q/A session. And I’m not hearing anything interesting about how to solve the problems from the district.
It’s been suggested... read more
The National Standards
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Mar
- 15
- 2010
The Common Core State Standards Initiative released draft K-12 standards, open for feedback until Friday, April 2, 2010. While you may have your concerns about the notion of moving to national standards, focus on the standards you’ve been given in your feedback. Probably nothing... read more
What I Won’t Do This Year
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Aug
- 15
- 2009
Collect writing and then ignore it for a month. Expect study questions answered every night. Give daily reading check quizzes worth tons of points. Skip grading blogs on a Saturday morning. Wait until April to institute a classroom after-school writing lab. Circle every single grammatical error on a given page. Assign just one piece of writing that involves student conferencing and that happens to be... read more
Dear You
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Aug
- 09
- 2009
Dear Students:
Hi. Welcome to a new year and a new day! This is going to be the one when you do all those great things you’ve always wanted to do, when you’ll prove everyone wrong, when all your teachers will help instead of hinder you, when you’ll become an interesting person by being interested in lots of things, when you’ll realize that you have more control over your... read more
Moving Through Some Changes
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Sep
- 12
- 2008
I hate doing the same thing every year. It’s boring and implies, “Yup, that was perfect; no need to change that one!” I’m still looking for those lesson plans. There are a few I have that are pretty close to “good,” but “perfect” is a long way off.
Some of these are small but... read more
In My Backyard, Please
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Dec
- 16
- 2007
My district just had a board meeting last Thursday and consideration of a KIPP high school was on the agenda. As of this writing, I don’t know how that meeting went, but I’ll find out and post an update. At my school, we had strong voices against the charter school, desperate for its disapproval. Folks scoured the charter paperwork in the hopes that KIPP... read more
Get Down With The Sickness
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Nov
- 10
- 2007
We’re all sick, aren’t we? It’s a green monster that sits in our pockets, wallets, purses, and cars. Money makes us more ill than healthy. Schools are no exception. If they could be healed of the need for money, so much would be different, so much would be better. But schools don’t need more money, they just need to learn to manage their addiction and stop asking the public to... read more
BTSN Ideas
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Nov
- 05
- 2007
Back-to-school Night (BTSN) happened a while for most of us, but we just debriefed the Night. I’m all full of questions and ideas, so here’s the stream, formatted to fit this screen and edited to run in the time allotted and for content.
Numbers
How many parents show up to your BTSN? We changed up the... read more
Camera Phone? Bring It!
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Apr
- 15
- 2007
Students! Do you have a video camera on your cell phone? Bring it! All I ask is that before you post anything about me to YouTube, let me know and send me a copy of it. Send it to me anonymously if you’re scared of repercussions (but I never let personal feelings affect grades). I need to know what I’m doing so I can make changes or prepare... read more
Take Back Your School: Part 1
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Mar
- 25
- 2007
“If my child was in a classroom with a bad teacher, one who is a painful and obvious discredit to the profession, one who isn’t actually teaching the students, what steps would I go through to get that teacher removed?” In the coming weeks, I will ask a few parents, teachers, administrators, and union representatives. If you have had success in kicking out a bad teacher in the past or... read more