Megan M. Allen is a National Board-certified teacher, the 2010 Florida Teacher of the Year, an eternal optimist, and an overall edugeek. Allen taught for nine years as a 4th and 5th grade teacher in Tampa, Fla., and then served as the developer and director of the Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Follow her on Twitter: @redhdteacher. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
WarpEd: Inequity and Corporal Punishment
Discipline downfall: Spanking is still legal in 15 states, affecting students who are poor and/or black more than others.
Education
Opinion
Why Educators Need to Dispel the 'Grass Is Always Greener' Mentality
Guest writer Ryan Wallace reminds us that even the greenest lawns can be one step from losing their luster.
Education
Opinion
Is Teacher Retention Circling the Drain?
Should our emphasis be recruiting any warm body or working to retain the effective veteran educators we already have?
Education
Opinion
Making Our Teaching Visible: Tide Pools and Teacher Expertise
Like the ocean with a world beneath her surface, so much is hidden in every move of an expert teacher.
Education
Opinion
WarpED #2: An Education-Oriented Political Satire Cartoon
Because all of our students have the right to be accepted for who they are.
Education
Opinion
WarpED: An Education-Oriented Political Satire
Because the world needs a political satire cartoon focused on education.
Education
Opinion
Part 2: Back to School in 5-7-5
Despite sweltering heat and long professional development sessions, hope lives in our schools! Sometimes in the form of poetry...
Education
Opinion
Back to School in 5-7-5: Haikus for Teachers and Parents
The end of summer and beginning of the school year, captured in bite-sized poems!
Education
Opinion
My Hope for the New School Year: Falling in Love
Let's make sure that every student falls in love with school.
Education
Opinion
Why Teachers Should-and Must-Claim Their Expertise: Part 3
Expertise and experience matters, especially for complex and high-stakes professions such as teaching.
Education
Opinion
National Politics or School Politics: Answers!
Is it school politics or national politics? The answers are here!
Education
Opinion
National Politics or School Politics? Let's Play a Game!
Making comparisons between the political conventions and school politics? See if you can decipher which world the excerpts come from.
Education
Opinion
Does Society View Teachers as Experts?
If you closed your eyes and visualized an expert, who would you see?
Education
Opinion
Do Years of Teaching Experience Matter? Teacher Expertise Blog Series, Part One
Blogger Megan Allen states that years of teaching experience matter, and it's all about deliberate practice.