I’ve never spent much time on this blog saying anything flattering about my teaching skill. That’s because, like most first/second year teachers, I don’t have much. I’m sure my principal (and coworkers after a few beers) would agree that especially in my first 2/3 of a year, management and organizational issues often prevented me from…

* My philosopher friend tells me psychology is the wrong word because there is absolutely no science in these posts, just discussion and extrapolation of first-person thought processes. The real word is phenomenology, apparently. Sorry. Quick thought: what is the most powerful incentive to teachers? Keeping their job? Getting a promotion? Getting a bonus? Not losing…

I think one of the most difficult jobs of a teacher is taking responsibility for everything they do. Since this may sound condescending, I’ll speak in the first person. As a teacher, it can be hard in the moment for me to realize every time my class seems “bad”, it is more likely a reflection…

So… I don’t have time for a real update… or anything for that matter, but my school has gone through significant changes recently. I am a middle school science teacher again. I had to say goodbye to the high schoolers that I was so excited to teach for the 2nd year in a row. And…

Not yet finished with the article, which is equally dismissive of past democratic and republican efforts to improve schools over the past decades. So far though, I think this critique of RTTT gets at the heart of the  problem with Duncan’s innovative–but in the end still ineffective–attempt to implement federal reforms in a way that…

I happened to be CC’d on a thread where my team (10+ year veteran at the school) lead sent some things to the social studies coach at my school. In her response, the social studies coach advised the team lead “please be advised before administering a formative assessment I need a paper copy 3 weeks…

Very good article about how ed tech and privatization are becoming increasingly intertwined. This is a problem for those (like the author and myself) who are skeptical of educational privatization but optimistic about education technology. I believe vouchers go way too far, but it seems like many are thinking of an even more extreme view of…

I cannot recommend Paul Tough’s book How Children Succeed highly enough. It contains fascinating literature reviews on cognitive psychology and the impact of early childhood adversity on adolescents and adults, incredible stories to illustrate these points, and a lot of useful tips for teachers who are skeptical of whether or not mastery of a set…

Today my 9th grade boys asked me who I would vote for, and we proceeded to have a brief conversation about politics, race (“Mama, I hear Republicans hate black people.” They were interested to hear that there are several African-American leaders in the Republican party), and the importance of doing research on the policies to…

How do you let them go when you have only just met them and they write this on their do now: “Probably in five years I see myself playing college football. I don’t know what college I’m going to play for. But I see myself doing positive things for my life. But in back in…