The Purpose of Education – A Year-Long Inquiry Posted by admin
And so I pose the question early in the year: What is the purpose of education? They tell me they have never really thought about it before. Read More>>
The Final Journal – Feedback for the Teacher (Me) Posted by admin
What were your favorite activities/assignments we did this year why did you like them? What did you learn the most from? Read More>>
Education Reform: Fixing Weak Teachers since 1996 (1-5-16) Posted by admin
Education reform was conceived as a way to save the system from all the “weak” teachers out there. Okay, you know what? I’ve seen some “weak” teachers in my time. I think most of us would agree, weak teachers have some or all of the following traits: They simply assign and assess instead of teach. Read More >>
The Girl Who Brought a Book to Testing Posted by admin
So many students have been turned off to reading by our endless skills and drills to get them ready for state testing, I sometimes fear the post-literate society Ray Bradbury imagined in Fahrenheit 451 will be arriving next week. Read More>>
Little-Known Facts: The Vast Teacher Conspiracy Posted by admin
The conspiracy-mongers want you to believe in one, monolithic idea of what teachers do, that they are all evil. It is a wildly nonsensical narrative, and yet people are buying it. Read More>>
Why Create? Posted by admin
Sometime late today or early tomorrow I will post the final Mr. Fitz comic strip online. Read More>>
For the Holidays: A Student Question Posted by admin
The strip above was inspired by an actual conversation with a student a few years ago – a conversation that has stuck with me. It took me a long time to figure out how to use it in the strip. The conversation with my real student happened after school one day. My student – “Roy” Read More >>
Introduction to Reading Posted by admin
I wrote in my last blog about how I started my school year. I’d like to write this time about how I begin my classes on reading for the year. I am often afraid that if our goal is to create lifelong readers (and learners) we often go about it all wrong. We bribe them Read More >>
How I Start a School Year Posted by admin
There are so many ways to start a school year: list rules and procedures and consequences, talk about yourself, give them a worksheet, give a diagnostic test… I guess how you start a school year depends on your model of teaching. The new model of teaching I see being promoted these days it this: List Read More >>