There has been a lot of debate for the past several years over whether or not to use “value added” data as a metric for evaluating teachers. Washington D.C. is already making 50% of a teacher’s evaluation dependent on their value added rating. I thought I’d weigh in on the debate, as I happen to…
read more »
I’m addicted to running. I can’t imagine life without it. However, it is extremely time consuming. Each day I go out for a run that can be anywhere from 1 hour to 2.5 hours. Often, I think about how I could be using that more than 10 hours per week to complete other items on…
read more »Still working on pre-work. Today I read about Homeboy Industries, a project by a Jesuit priest in LA that for the past 25 years has provided jobs and help for former gang members and prevented other youths from joining gangs. Consisting of a cafe, farmers markets, diner, grocery, bakery, silkscreen/embroidery, educational counseling, tattoo removal, legal…
read more »Day 149: Fourth period today was deeply unsatisfying, for two reasons. First, it was pretty much the most boring lesson I have taught all year. The Do Now was too complicated. There were too many guided notes. The guided practice was silent and low rigor. About 20 minutes in, I realized my kids hadn’t been released,…
read more »This year’s April showers not only brought the budding of May flowers, but also many other awesome joys! First let’s admire the natural beauty of Spring… Pause and “smell” the… flowers: And now onto the highlights of an Awesome April: From successfully proctoring the PSSA to a group of 22 nervous 3rd graders, as well…
read more »This last week, during my planning periods I’ve been helping to administer the WIDA test. The WIDA test measures the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills of English Language Learners, aka all of my students. Students are scored on a scale of 1-6 with a one meaning that they are unable to communicate in English…
read more »Comparisons are deadly. A few months ago, I had a case of viral Crud that kept me feeble for weeks. I came to work every day with my low grade fever and kept all of the lights off in my classroom to delay the inevitable daily migraine. When TFA staff came in and made the…
read more »7th Grader: “Is that phone a 3G or a 4G?” Me: “It’s a zero-G.” 7: “Are you serious!?!” My kids are always concerned about my lack of coolness and technology. They normally look at me with a mix pitying looks and judgement when they see my old phone, but I think I completely blew their…
read more »Yes, I’m counting the days until the end of the year. Yes, I am all countdown/tested/retesting’d out. The kids are checked out as well. We need to get through the next week and we’re home free. We’ll get to finish our dinosaur unit and start on our physics unit. The kids are looking forward to…
read more »What a day. Teacher Appreciation Week and the day of a local levy for my hometown school district in Ohio. As I see people coming out on social media to thank their teachers or argue in favor or against this levy, I reflected on my day. Below will be an outline of my school day.…
read more »
Recent comments