I started this blog more than two years ago. And this last post will soon join all of the others I've done in the great Internet Archive in the sky (luckily still searchable!). But before we say goodbye (for now), I want to gather up part of what I've learned, contributed, and where I went wrong.
Civic duties involve doing things in the world—pushing us to go beyond knowledge, thinking skills, and values within our classrooms. Civic education requires practice working with others to take action.
My high school math textbooks felt like a barrier preventing me from connecting with the teacher and discipline, but I think I have found a way to use the CPM resources to forge deeper relationships with my students.
Instead of accepting the premise that high achieving young people won't be engaged by teaching for an entire career we ought to attack it. Share stories of the ways in which our 10th or 20th or 30th year teaching has changed our thinking or challenged ideas we used to hold.
Kindergarten teacher Sharon Davison provides an example of how educators can serve as advocates in the current political climate.
As one of the professionals whose work life they know as well as almost any other, I owe it to my students to model what healthy labor looks like. Here's an annotated list of a handful of ways I try to teach them about healthy work through example.
Last week, I led a group of teachers who facilitated a two day mathematical orientation for our new students. These are the 4 goals that worked to create a productive mathematical journey for our students. Like the north star, they gave us a point to aim for and an indication when we got off track.
I bet at some point you've overheard a teacher complaining to another about something coming from the district or administration: "why are "they" doing this to us?" I am a teacher and teacher leader who doesn't hear that any more and I want to help make New York City the one place in the country where teachers won't ever say it. Let's stop talking about "they" and create a system of "we."
My critique of Matthew Lynch's "3 Important Critiques of Standardized Assessment," might take steps toward clarifying his argument and answering his critics' complaints: he conflated the words "assessment" and "test." We need to leverage both tests and performance assessment in thoughtful ways to create a set of healthy assessment habits which don't have the giant footprint of the current system.
A queer educator reflects on protecting and teaching LGBT students in light of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub. "Even though we cannot protect our students outside our schools' walls, when students leave, they are powerful. They move through the world, bodies loving and respecting the truths they hold and the truths of others. I hope educators see the paramount value in this and find transformative joy in facing these fears alongside their students."
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