Nov 20 2016

Trump as a Teachable Moment

In this election bedtime story, the hardworking, but flawed, queen did not slay the orange dragon with the terrible roar. Instead, the villagers made the dragon their king and banished the queen to a cottage somewhere in Upstate New York. Many parents, caregivers, teachers, especially Clinton supporters, struggle to explain the outcome of the story Read More

May 25 2016

What Are the 2016 Candidates Saying About Education?

All the 2016 Presidential Candidates have education visions and education policy reform ideas. It’s just that these ideas have gotten lost in the self-immolation and squabbling that have dominated the media sphere during the 2016 Election Campaign. Compared to this stuff, education, normally an incendiary issue, isn’t that newsworthy. Education doesn’t get you millions of click Read More

Feb 01 2016

“Does Spelling Count?”: Literacy, Math and Science

A colleague of mine, a biologist, (let’s call him Ken) teaches an upper-level college course on genetics. Course requirements include the usual—class participation, quizzes, exams, and …a scientific paper. Each semester, when Ken mentions the paper the classroom erupts in shrieks and murmurs. Immediately after the noise dies down, hands shoot into the air and Read More

Jan 22 2016

4 Tips to Learn How to Learn

You attended that work retreat least weekend that was supposed to help you learn new stuff. But did you ever learn how to learn? Did you ever learn how to make information part of long-term memory that can be appropriately used in the future? Most people are not taught strategies and habits that help them Read More

Jan 11 2016

Does Social Class Matter in the Classroom?

Most teachers I ask say no. It doesn’t matter if students are wealthy, middle class or poor, they say. Then I ask other questions: Does what’s happening in the world affect the schoolhouse? Social media? Prejudice? Teachers always answer yes to these questions. Which brings us back to social class. Social class is a powerful force Read More

Oct 09 2015

The Crisis of Multicultural Education- Part 1

Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? – The Tao te Ching Can you? Can you deny your own mind, your own consciousness, in order to have infinite understanding? Here, the Tao, the way, is referring to the realm of the soul where, through meditation and aesthetic practice, one Read More

Jul 12 2015

Reflective Teaching and the Self

You teach your self. Who ever you are, who ever that ‘self’ is will determine the words and deeds you perform in the classroom. It’s really difficult to change the teaching self from the outside. Governments, district leaders and principals could mandate policies and training meant to change attitudes and instructional strategies. But in the Read More

Jul 06 2015

Teaching and Prejudice

Everyone has prejudices. Some judgment or attitude, for or against, an idea, a person or a thing. Prejudice isn’t just about race, ethnicity or culture. Think conservative vs liberal. The student in your class who you give a high grade because she reminds you of your daughter. These attitudes develop over time. And are often Read More

Jul 01 2015

Rubrics, In a Nutshell

What is a rubric? A rubric is a scoring tool that lists the standards on which judgment or decisions about a piece of work will be based. A good rubric… Tells you what you’ll be looking for to give a certain grade (or score) for a test or assignment. A rubric should say what skills Read More

Jun 22 2015

4 Ways to Create Better Tests

All teachers create tests, a type of assessment. Assessment can be used to improve student learning and teacher instruction, as in the case of formative assessment. After instruction, teachers use summative assessment to find out if students have mastered curricula aims. Most teachers create their own assessments for classroom use or use tests created by Read More

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