When a teacher meets thirty students inside of a classroom and the bell rings, the entire sum of life experiences of all those people collides inside a confined space creating a rather complex dynamic where there is a need to be part of a collaborative community. Every situation, every stressor, every victory, every defeat, every … Continue reading Every Student Walks Into School With “Baggage” – What the NCGA Could Help Do
Month: March 2018
“Everybody Hurts” – Prioritizing Mental Health In High Schools With Some R.E.M.
Everybody hurts. Sometimes. Teach for twenty years in public high schools and you become entrenched in the lives of young people. Thousands of them. Literally thousands. If you take the avocation of being a teacher seriously, then that investment in young people is not confined to the four walls of a classroom and not restricted … Continue reading “Everybody Hurts” – Prioritizing Mental Health In High Schools With Some R.E.M.
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My State Superintendent Will Eat Doughnuts For Me Because That’s What Real Leaders Do
Every two years the Department of Public Instruction issues a Teacher Working Conditions Survey to get a sense of how public school teachers feel about their working environment. This is the first one with Mark Johnson as the state superintendent. And I have one big (among smaller ones) complaint about the survey: it should ask … Continue reading My State Superintendent Will Eat Doughnuts For Me Because That’s What Real Leaders Do
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Our “World Leader Pretend”
If one was to choose a song that played through unseen speakers when a self-important individual like Donald Trump walked into the room, “World Leader Pretend” would be hard to overlook. And it isn’t just because of the obvious parallels to the lyrics, but the fact that the first person point of view so brilliantly … Continue reading Our “World Leader Pretend”
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Our Public Schools Are Better Than the NCGA Would Want You to Believe
Our public schools are better than you may think. Probably a lot better. With the constant dialogue that “we must improve schools” and the “need to implement reforms,” it is imperative that we as a taxpaying public seek to understand all of the variables in which schools are and can be measured, and not all … Continue reading Our Public Schools Are Better Than the NCGA Would Want You to Believe
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When Our Secretary of Education Chooses to Remain Uneducated About Public Education
From last Sunday's interview with Betsy DeVos by Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes: Betsy DeVos: We have invested billions and billions and billions of dollars from the federal level And we have seen zero results. Lesley Stahl: But that really isn't true. Test scores have gone up over the last 25 years. So why do … Continue reading When Our Secretary of Education Chooses to Remain Uneducated About Public Education
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I Just Became the Father of a Child With Autism
Actually, I have been his father and dad for over ten years. But this past week, our family received a diagnosis that our son has autism. So now we are a family with an autistic child who happens to have Down Syndrome. Or we have a child who just happens to have both Down Syndrome … Continue reading I Just Became the Father of a Child With Autism
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Local Supplements Mean More Than You Think
North Carolina can make the claim that the average teacher salary is over $50,000 / year. That is at least until it gets rid of its veteran teachers. T. Keung Hui’s report for McClatchy Regional News entitled “N.C. teachers are now averaging more than $50,000 a year” clearly shows that average salary is being bolstered … Continue reading Local Supplements Mean More Than You Think
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About That NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey – The Glaring Disconnect Between the NCGA and Reality
The North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions survey is open for teachers this month. I submitted mine just this week. The survey happens once every two years. This is the first one with Mark Johnson as the state superintendent. And I have one big (among smaller ones) complaint about the survey: it should ask teachers views … Continue reading About That NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey – The Glaring Disconnect Between the NCGA and Reality
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We Should Go Back to the 7-Period School Day
Okay. I am just going to throw this out there. I want the seven-period school day back. It’s better for schools. It’s better for teachers. But most of all, it is better for students. Many school systems have been on a block schedule for many, many years and there are many teachers who probably love … Continue reading We Should Go Back to the 7-Period School Day
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