How Does Your School Garden Grow?
By Suzie Boss
11/4/09
On a crisp fall morning, I watched students at Lewis Elementary School, in Portland, Oregon, roll up their pant legs and wade barefoot into piles of sand, clay, straw, and water.
Let's Get Real About Innovation in Our Schools
By Suzie Boss
10/12/09Innovation seems to be on everyone's lips lately. President Obama has called for what he calls "a new generation of innovation." Secretary of Education Arne Duncan aims to turn his department into what is in his words an "engine of innovation," with his plan to dole out $650 million in grants to school districts
The Importance of Project-Learning Schools
By Suzie Boss
8/28/09When I talk with groups of teachers about project learning, audiences typically divide along predictable lines.
Making Time for Teacher Collaboration Is Crucial
By Suzie Boss
7/31/09In his frequent speeches and interviews about 21st-century learning, Steven Paine often mentions an idea that sounds more folksy than futuristic. In West Virginia, where he has been state superintendent of schools since 2005, Paine is building what he calls "a back porch for teachers."
Students Take Action in the Community
By Suzie Boss
5/28/09When New York City's 1.1 million public school students return from summer vacation, they can look forward to rolling up their sleeves and getting busy improving the world, or at least their corner of it.
Teachers as Curators of Learning
By Suzie Boss
5/5/09Quick: Name ten excellent Web sites related to the grade level or subject area you teach.
An Environmental Educator Makes a Splash Challenging Students
By Suzie Boss
4/7/09Christopher Swain describes himself as an ordinary guy. Maybe. But how many of us ordinary folks would consider swimming 1,000 miles along the Atlantic coast to raise awareness about the planet's fragile health?
Teachers Step Up and Assist with Global Issues
By Suzie Boss
3/5/09In southern Sudan, a region wracked by decades of civil war and famine, hope is rising. A new secondary school is going up in the village of Marial Bai.
Students Participate in Professional Development -- and Their Own Education
By Suzie Boss
2/10/09Long before I arrived in Philadelphia for Educon 2.1, I was picking up clues that this was going to be a different kind of education conference. There would be no sit-and-get workshops, according to organizer extraordinaire Chris Lehmann, principal of the Science Leadership Academy, which hosts this annual event.
Retired Teachers Put Life Lessons to Good Use
By Suzie Boss
1/27/09Michele McRae retired from a long and enjoyable career as a professor of English and French, only to find herself bored silly as a retiree. "I lasted about three weeks," she says. And so she got busy.
