The Quest for a Quiet Mind
Jan 27th
Its fourth period, about 10:45 in the morning. I have been at school for about three and a half hours and taught three classes. I ease into my desk chair as the last of my students file out of the room and into the hallway, with a mind for being as productive as possible in the 40 minutes I have More >
Teachers: Go Back to School, In Your Own Building!
Jan 18th
In this golden age of global communication and collaboration I sometimes forget that I teach in a very small district (except of course during gloomy budget meetings), with really great people. On Friday I did something that I have been meaning to do for a long time, but have continued to put off for one reason or another, I attended a class right More >
Maybe We Need to Cut Our Administrators Some Slack
Jan 10th
I often bemoan, if not openly criticize the seeming slowness with which administrators are leading (or not leading) the charge to transform our schools. From my perspective as a teacher, they are an easy target, having voluntarily placed themselves squarely in the bull’s-eye after all. But just the other day I had a conversation with my superintendent that More >
Interactive White Boards: Engagement Is Not Interaction
Jan 6th
Summer break has ended; you are feeling refreshed and renewed, ready to tackle the New Year and all of its new challenges. You enter your room after your morning meeting to discover an interactive whiteboard (IWB) hung neatly in the front of the room where your white board used to be. The district is involved More >
Making Resolutions, Not Wishes
Dec 31st
The end of anything is always a good time for reflection, and the end of a year is the most obvious time for these considerations. Every year I set goals in my personal life, some I am able to meet, many I am not (mainly those associated with my expanding waist line). Curiously enough this is not a tradition that I have More >
Are Teachers Leaders?
Dec 14th
The other day I read an post by Russ Goerend (@RussGoerend), which raised a question by making this statement: Teachers aren’t leaders [Self-fulfilling Prophecies]). Russ wrote this post in response to a conversation he had with Scott Mcleod, where Dr. Mcleod stated that teachers are not “leaders and policymakers who have influence/power.” This statement was in reference to More >
A Letter From a Student About Filtering
Dec 10th
On Monday I got into an impassioned argument about the state of technology adoption at our school and the heavy handed internet filtering. A member of the student council happened to be their to overhear this conversation. When I got home from school I had the following email in my inbox. I asked the student if I could share his email More >
Don’t Forget About Modeling: It’s Money!
Dec 5th
I knew I would lure you in with that title, but I am not talking about fashion week here. I am talking about a tried and true teaching technique that I sometimes forget — modeling. I had an experience this week that reminded me of its importance.
We have been studying and writing various forms of poetry in my creative writing class. More >
Dear Mr. Patterson: Our Students Are Not a Special Interest Group
Dec 3rd
Governor Patterson has unilaterally decided to withhold funding for New York’s public schools, despite the legislature’s passage of a deficit reduction plan. This results in an effective mid-year cut to school districts that are already hemorrhaging from last year’s trimming. I understand that New York is in the middle of a very large financial crisis, and that schools More >
Why Teachers Should Display Their Degrees
Nov 29th
Teachers should be proud of the degrees and awards they have received and display them in their classrooms.
