Two strands of the education reform agenda have never made sense to me, because they completely contradict each other: Strand One: We want excellent teachers. We should get rid of bad teachers, and hire and retain excellent teachers. Teachers are the most important determining factor in a child’s educational success. Great teachers can change life Read More >>
I recently wrote about why I love teaching, and why I think my love of teaching benefits my students. I would now like to address how this love of teaching is under attack. I won’t necessarily conjecture why love of teaching is under attack – I simply want to demonstrate that it is. I love Read More >>
I wrote recently about my love of teaching. I shouldn’t have to explain this, but I will: I think that my love of my craft is good for students. I don’t know if that’s true for every teacher. If you love teaching because you like bossing and bullying students, I suppose that’s not good for Read More >>
I been criticized for being too negative about teaching in my comics. I don’t think that assessment is fair. Mr. Fitz is really intended as a Valentine to teaching and teachers. It’s just that there is so much getting in the way of great teaching these days – and much of it is on display Read More >>
This post is about a fateful set of comic strips. They were, I suppose not particularly fateful for anyone else, but for me they were a turning point – professionally, personally, and artistically. When I was my district Teacher of the Year in 2005, I ended my 11 month reign with a speech that included Read More >>
I used to tell my students That it wasn’t about the papers they turned in The grades spread out across a digital grid The products, the GPAs. I would tell them Education is about What’s left after you take away the papers And grades Your brain should be rewired to To be smarter To know Read More >>
Wendell Berry once wrote an essay titled “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer.” I don’t go as far as Wendell Berry – I am typing this essay on a computer – but on the other hand, I think he has some valid points. Even Stephen King has a section in his book Read More >>
As the new year started, I attended a district professional learning and decided to draw a comic strip about it. The after-school workshop was ironic on so many levels, I HAD to write it. In fact I started writing this comic about the workshop while I was still sitting IN the workshop. Here is the Read More >>
Each January, I start the new year with my ninth graders with a weird activity. I know we will be working on expository writing, and I’m going to be encouraging them to write about an enthusiasm – something they love. But first, I want to build their confidence. I want to show them that they Read More >>