Tag Archives: school reform

Bringing out the best in children

As I was walking down Church Hill today the potential of our nation torpedoed toward and then past me in the form of a vigorous 8 year-old girl. Her feet pounded the pavement, her wide golden eyes locked with mine, and then she was gone. “Who knows?” I thought. “Maybe that girl will do humankind […]

“School is boring!” Does it have to be?

I absolutely love thinking and learning about schools and students and I assume a lot of other teachers do too. Yet in my experience as a teacher I rarely have an opportunity to sit down in the context of my job with other equally charged teachers and talk and plan new programs and new curriculum and new approaches to […]

My school system is abuzz with the Common Core: is this a good thing?

I decided to see what the elite are saying about the Common Core. After all, when it comes to education, the wealthy usually manage to get the best for their children. Do they like the Common Core? Are they choosing schools that reflect an embrace of the standards-based movement? I looked at the mission statements […]

When the principal’s load is too heavy …

Dysfunction on a school board or in a superintendent’s office or at the state level impacts what goes on in the classroom, but the quality of teachers is what matters most, and the principal of a school is charged with ensuring that quality. Sometimes it seems that a principal’s load is simply too great to […]

Teachers Frustrated by Lack of Time

Many public school teachers work in environments that hinder them from doing their best to meet the needs of individual students in their classrooms. A lot of teachers find this frustrating, and many talk of leaving the profession. Hype from the media and from politicians could easily make the public think the problems with our […]

21st Century Skills at Risk

What should schools be teaching? What is fundamental to the skill set of an educated person? According to the Framework for 21st Century Learning, created by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills with the encouragement of the U.S. Department of Education, among skills at the center of the curriculum should be : Critical thinking. Communication. Collaboration. Creativity. I think […]

Many of the Best Teachers Leave the Profession

Once again I find myself thinking about why teachers leave the profession.  This week I am in Waterville, Maine, attending an institute on Maine School Law. I am deeply impressed with the caliber of the teachers I am with, which is often the case when I spend time pursuing further training, especially during vacation periods, […]