Yet another young teacher says so long to a big-city district. Sam of clean up on aisle of life: In many ways I feel that a part of my spirit, and maybe even my heart, has been broken by the mess of a system that is the [New York] DOE. Happily, she won't be leaving education entirely but is starting as a behavior therapist for autistic children. Sadly (for us), as part of this life change, she's also saying goodbye to her blog--which was a good one. Good luck, Sam. Thanks for sharing your teaching life....

Nancy Flanagan doesn't mind being labled an "unrepentant Luddite," but she doesn't take to English Professor Mark Bauerlein's much-hyped new book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. Baurerlein's conception of what it means to be well-educated today, she says, lacks both common sense and vision: I’m not saying that disciplinary knowledge is unimportant—far from it. Having a broad understanding of the arts, sciences and humanities makes one educated, but having a lively imagination and curiosity makes information useful. If the whiz-bang nature of technology makes kids distractible and dumb, that ...

Ms. Frizzle says goodbye to teaching—for now....

Not likely, says Sheryl Nussbaum Beach. But they could be replaced by other teachers who know how to use technology more effectively. Better get on board...

Mildly Melancholy's principal surfaces with a "monumentally absurd, utterly obtuse plan."...

A progressive political blogger in Arizona recently happened upon a post by Teacher blogger Donalyn Miller (i.e., The Book Whisperer) on the failures of Reading First and was quite taken taken by her philosophy for teaching reading: Miller has this crazy idea that students learn to read by reading, and they read when they're given lots of books to choose from and lots of time to pore over those books. Her school day begins with every student reading a book chosen by that student. You can't encourage the love of reading by putting students through reading drills, then giving ...

Here's one not to be missed: Cindi Rigsbee recaps testing week at her school—a tale of frenzied teachers, shouting students, a forgotten marriage proposal, numerous body piercings (with some blood), mismatched test booklets, a pudding mishap, and (for good measure) a school lockdown. You gotta read it....

IB a Math Teacher posts an interesting OECD chart showing that U.S. teachers spend far more time teaching in front of their classrooms each year than educators in other developed counties. This isn't exactly something to be proud of, he says: What it shows is that other countries recognize that it's in the "best interest of the educational system to let teachers have proper time to grade, contact parents, and work with students."...

Robert Pondiscio, writing on the blog of the Core Knowledge Foundation, has an idea for Teach For America's Wendy Kopp: Instead of sending all these young and inexperienced teachers into the nation's lowest-performing schools, why not arrange things so they could serve as "pinch-hitters" in high-performing schools, while experienced, master teachers from those schools take on stints (possibly for increased pay) in disadvantaged areas with the kids who need them most. Think of it. Our kids who are furthest behind would get what they really need-the best teachers, not just the best-intentioned teachers. Meanwhile, your freshly recruited, elite college grads ...

After 20 years in teaching, NYC educator decides to ditch the tie—but finds it's not so easy. (One of his female commenters admonishes: TIES ARE SEXY!)...