Today I had the fortune and opportunity to visit my new school for an afternoon of in-classroom observations. In addition to meeting some of the teachers with whom I’ll eventually teach, I also got to meet the principal and one of the guidance counselors. I want to be very careful when writing about all of…

A few weeks ago, fellow TFA alum Matt Barnum invited me to a public ‘discussion’ about education reform.  Though Matt seems to consider himself further to whatever direction ‘reformers’ are in the spectrum, I’m not so sure I’d place him there.  Still, based on the massive number of comments (72, though a lot are from…

In the days since my “panic” post, so many life changes have been happening. some are intentional, deliberate things I’ve done to make myself more prepared for what lies ahead. other things have just kind of fallen into my lap. together they have combined to give me more peace and calm as I approach the…

A few weeks ago I was invited by Matt Barnum to discuss various issues in education reform through a series of letters.  Matt is a TFA alum who is now in law school.  He has written several articles in various newspapers about the complexity of improving education.  Most recently he wrote something about how it…

In the spirit of honesty, openness, and real talk, I’ll tell you straight out: I’m panicking. Okay. Let’s back up.   The past few weeks and months have been an odd mix of saying goodbye to things I was involved in and preparing to say goodbye to the people who mean the most to me.…

So the first season of Blackboard Wars has ended and, as I expected, it reached the conclusion it was created to.  Yes, ‘reform’ isn’t easy.  The community resists radical change, even when it is what is best for it.  The early ‘success’ of this school and its teachers validates the idea that all you need…

I recently learned through one of my Twitter followers about a series of videos from an organization called RESET in Minnesota.  Minnesota is a place that has a large TFA and TFA charter school presence.  Even one of the new co-CEOs has several relatives involved in Minnesota charters.  TFA, as well as several charter organizations,…

My sister’s friend is a first grade teacher in a ‘challenging’ school in New York.  People who know about education know that poor students often enter kindergarten, already a few years behind their more affluent peers.  Good teachers, when given the freedom to teach their students at an appropriate level for their incoming skills, are…

With two more episodes in this first season of Oprah’s Blackboard wars, they do not have a lot of time left to complete a successful ‘turnaround.’  I can’t say how good this school was before the charter takeover, as I wasn’t there.  I also can’t say how good the school system was in New Orleans…