(Another fictional take on education that I’m still pretty happy with… DLF 2-20-20) It’s fiction time again. In case you hadn’t heard, the Gates Foundation is one of the investors in experimental bio-metric bracelets that would measure student engagement and attentiveness through electrical signals in their skin. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.They Read More >>
I recently wrote about my journey, my experience with the Common Core, by turning the stages of grief upside down and beginning with Acceptance of the CCSS and ending with Denial. I’d like to delve into a few additional ideas in my next few posts. In this post, let’s take a look at the future Read More >>
The series below may be the darkest series I’ve ever done for the strip (aside from A Teacher Gets Depressed, which follows immediately after it). It’s dark, but I think it makes valid points – and sadly none of those points seems any less valid today… (2-19-20) This February I decided to take my comic Read More >>
In a feat of spontaneous irony (my irony is usually calculated and planned), this week I reposted blog posts from 2013 about my reactions to the Common Core Standards. I reposted them on Wednesday night – the very day those same standards were ousted here in Florida in favor of their new “B.E.S.T.” standards. So Read More >>
Assistant Principal Peter Graves was happy. For one thing, it was Friday. For another thing, he had just left this month’s Assistant Principals Roundtable meeting, which was always a relief. He felt free. For another thing, the Vice-Assistant Deputy Superintendent of Assessment and Achievement had given all of them a very strong recommendation that he Read More >>
Going through the stages of grief in reverse order, my experience with the Common Core has lead me from ACCEPTANCE, to DEPRESSION, to BARGAINING, to ANGER. But where to go from anger? I have already inverted the stages of grief; now I’ll add to them. I will end, not just with DENIAL, but with AFFIRMATION. Read More >>
As I became aware of the Common Core Standards movement, it first seemed like a way to justify the very real learning that took place in my classroom. It promised to focus on the things we wanted students to do instead of scripted curricula, and most of the standards seemed to make sense to me. It gained Read More >>
I read the Common Core State [sic] Standards with ACCEPTANCE because of the relief they appeared to offer from standardization and standardized testing. Then I read the publishers criteria and found out about writing to text, not making personal connections, text complexity, and other concepts that contradicted the Common Core’s promise to not dictate how Read More >>
In my last post I outlined my initial stage of experience with the Common Core Standards: ACCEPTANCE. I outlined my reasons for thinking the Common Core offered possible relief for what ailed me: over-testing, standardization, and too many standards. The next step, moving through the stages of grief in reverse, is… DEPRESSION The first thing Read More >>
The following posts from 2013 is somewhat ironic now, since Florida is moving away from Common Core soon (or the Florida Standards, as they call them). But I think it’s worth re-posting these as a recounting of how I felt about the new standards at the time… I’m not sure exactly when it hit me, Read More >>