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…

At some point during the year I stopped posting. (You can look at the date for yourself.) Life is crazy and maybe I need to be on here to reflect more… but I am currently on Spring Break at my parent’s house in the rural South. I’ve been going back and forth with myself about…

I’ve been trying for a while now to draw out my thoughts on education reform in a relatively clear way. However, when I think about any subject, I like to think not just in terms of how things are, but rather how they are changing. So, what follows is a hypothesis (or really a series…

In the fall, I will begin a doctoral program in educational policy. I’m hoping to spend the next few months clarifying my thoughts on schools and education reform, and I think the best way to do that is to read a diverse and influential series of articles and books that challenge and expand my assumptions…

In response to the ever-vexing Joel Klein, a couple Atlantic authors released a solid critique of the new “teacher bar exam” movement. No doubt, teaching has definitely solidified for me the idea that “standard resume characteristics — level of education, certifications or licenses, and experience beyond the first few years of teaching — have essentially…

After Pro-Sat this weekend I spent some time tutoring a former student who is now at a new high school at a coffee shop in Detroit. Somewhere in between hot chocolate, peppermint tea, and dihybrid crosses I remembered why I am a teacher despite all of the struggles of the past two years. When I…

Reading about the struggles and worries in my students’ lives is heartbreaking. Reading about their dreams and goals is inspiring.  

At a recent TFA professional Saturday, someone mentioned that they don’t like the term Achievement gap, using instead the term achievement deficit. I’ve never really thought of what’s implied by the term achievement gap, but hearing him say achievement deficit sparked a few thoughts, tied mainly to my understanding of our economic deficits. Deficits come…

Whiteboard love messages… the day my kiddos found out the school was closing (and it was their last day). From a new 9th grader who used to get into fights at his old school and whose mother said this was the first place that he actually looked forward to going to school. … I am…

I have a lot of mixed feelings about debates surrounding educational reform. On the one hand, I believe that Sweden–where educational achievement has plummeted since it implemented a universal and even egalitarian voucher system in the early 1990s–is the evidence all critics of school choice should point to that even in the best circumstances, school choice will…