I taught middle school science and math in Oakland for 18 years, and have been working for the past five years as a coach and mentor.
Blog Posts
From an Edutopia reader comes this question: "With so many of today's schools focused on state achievement tests, many teachers are 'teaching to the test.' However, this does not adequately prepare students for life outside of school. Does anyone have any suggestions for the alternate...
Read More.Every once in a while, a contrarian appears and challenges some of our basic assumptions about schooling in today's society. One of the biggest assumptions we have is that it is the job of school to prepare all our students for college.
Read More.Someone commenting on my last blog entry posed the following provocative question: "To really make a lasting difference, I think it will require that educators -- with or without unions -- put pressure on politicians and advocate for...
Read More.This is the second post in a two-part entry. Read part one.
One of my colleagues on the Teacher Leaders Network recently mused, "Have we abdicated our ability to...
Read More.There is a lot of debate among educators about the lack of status for the teaching profession. A blogger named Matt Johnston has pointed out that if we teachers want to be treated as...
Read More.This is my third blog post here at Edutopia.org, so maybe it is time to introduce myself in the actual style of a blog and explain a bit about what my goals are in doing this.
Read More.Recently, consultants who were reviewing the data systems the California Department of Education uses to track student performance interviewed me. I have had to wrestle with how I feel about the whole process, because unfortunately, I think the emphasis on data has not been the boon to students...
Read More.This is the second part of a two-part entry. Read part one.
In many of our schools, we have stopped giving our students real creative challenges because there is not enough time for anything open ended. Open-ended projects, by their...
Read More.Creative play on the part of young children may be far more valuable than anyone has realized. I caught a fascinating story about this issue on NPR last week.
Read More.
