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Chris O'NealMay 26, 2007

So, it's the end of the year, and my only child is finishing up elementary school. She'll enter middle school next fall after having a great elementary school experience. She's in public schools in Virginia, and they've done a fabulous job integrating our tough standards, and managing our painfully intense testing and accountability, all the while keeping a positive focus on the child.

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Ken MessersmithMay 21, 2007

The report "A New Day for Learning," recently released by the Time, Learning, and Afterschool Task Force, argues that we must redefine the school day if we are to improve student achievement in the United States. The authors of the report, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, lay out five elements of their proposed new learning system.

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Bonnie Bracey SuttonMay 20, 2007

Have there been question-mark children in your teaching life? Certain children have puzzled me. Sometimes they wouldn't talk; sometimes they would ask questions that were difficult to answer. As I became more experienced as a listener, I realized that these questions were circling around things that were bothering the child, and that they were looking for answers from me.

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Diane Demee-BenoitMay 16, 2007

Year after year, we debate numerous reforms to improve our educational system. Yet we are continually hampered by the conventions of our thinking about -- well, everything. We fall into the same old trap of tinkering around the margins and trying to reform an education system with an ever-increasing number of policies, programs, and regulations piled on top of each other. Even the words we use to talk about improving schools -- school reform -- seem worn and out-of-date.

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Jim MoultonMay 16, 2007

Last summer, during a conference session I was doing in Tennessee, we were discussing those kids who come into schools without book sense -- five-year-olds who, sadly, don't know how to operate a book. A participant spoke up and said, "Jim, I'm a kindergarten teacher, and I'm getting worried about the number of kids coming into my classroom who don't know how scissors work."

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Chris O'NealMay 15, 2007

As summer approaches, many of us plan to attend educational conferences of all kinds. Some of the best ones are in our own backyards. Others are international in nature, and, because of budget or travel constraints, are available to us only every once in a while.

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Ken MessersmithApril 25, 2007

Many people believe that a high-quality teacher-education program must include field experience for teacher candidates in all education courses. Organizations such as the National Network for Educational Renewal and the Association of Teacher Educators strongly support this concept.

Many people believe that a high-quality teacher-education program must include field experience for teacher candidates in all education courses. Organizations such as the National Network for Educational Renewal and the Association of Teacher Educators strongly support this concept. Read More

Bonnie Bracey SuttonApril 24, 2007

Like everyone, I was shaken by the massacre last week at Virginia Tech. It is clear that the shooter had severe emotional and mental problems that could have been addressed much earlier.

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Chris O'NealApril 24, 2007

Several of us have chatted here before about wikis. As an educational-technology person who spends lots of time online, I can tell you it really does take a lot to win me over as far as new technology and its worthiness in education are concerned. Wikis, however, have done just that.

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Dr. Katie KlingerApril 19, 2007

As educators, we naturally view the world in the context of creating positive opportunities for teaching and learning. Yet many times, when this happens, our ideas also have an effect on how communities pass values and expectations along to their children.

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