Over the past month, I’ve begun drafting three entries on this blog and another two on my private blog. Only one has made it past a few sentences. This is a testament to the disjointedness of my thoughts lately, as I approach the end of the school year while simultaneously ramping up my responsibilities for…
read more »Usually I’m a very reflective person. In fact, I distinctly remember writing my “wow, college is over” post roughly one year ago. Which is why it’s so weird that I’m so stuck in the present right now. We’re so close to the end and I know that that fact is going to hit me like…
read more »Kevin Huffman is one of two TFA alumni who is currently a state education commissioner. I was a 1991 Houston corps member and Kevin was one in 1992 so I have known him, at least informally, for over twenty years. I interacted with him from time to time when he was a TFA vice president…
read more »I know that I haven’t posted in awhile but it was because I had my nose deep in someone’s science book. For the past 3 weeks, I have been buried in all things Science. Science occupied every waking moment of my existence and to a degree, my sleeping existence. Honestly, if it wasn’t science related,…
read more »The teacher prep landscape has been shifting recently. Jonathan Schorr views the changes as part of a revolution in teacher prep. The question is an interesting one: are we experiencing a revolution? In Schorr’s view, the answer is yes. He points out the many alternative teacher prep programs that now exist. While each may have…
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For those of you starting institute for the first time, the fourth time, and/or the last time, here’s a fond institute memory for you: Four years ago, I moved into a large suite at St. John’s University in Queens for my first institute experience as an operations coordinator. I was still in college, debating whether…
read more »Gary, If you’re not finding any thoughtful reform writing, then you’re not looking hard enough. Read Michael Petrilli and the Fordham Institute’s stuff, particularly Education Next; read some of the Dropout Nation, which includes important discussion of school discipline; read Rick Hess or Jay Green. Not of course that all these writers fit neatly…
read more »My first year teaching, I counted many more failures than successes. The one story I clung to was when I helped a student gain admission to a summer robotics program at the Cooper Union. He was interested in engineering and I knew full well that the science education I was giving him was poor preparation,…
read more »Two months ago I wrote about Wendy Kopp stepping down and two new co-CEOs of TFA taking her place. As the weeks have passed, I’ve been able to get more of sense of who these CEOs are and what their views are. Matt Kramer and Elisa Villanueva-Beard have been carefully chosen to be the faces…
read more »Today, my classroom was exceptional. I spoke for a grand total of 3 mintues in each class. I had no new assignments. I gave no new lessons. I made no copies. I did nothing. Instead, my kids did the work. They sat down, held individual conferences about grades, and got to work on their final…
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