Several months ago I was invited to observe in a religious education program. I had expressed interest based on the similarity of the program, called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and the Montessori method. Despite different end goals, both programs feature “sensorially rich” experiences (learning through the senses and through movement) and an environment prepared…
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…
read more »Reading through my blog, I have also come to a wonderful realization: that this blog doesn’t contain all of the important turning points in my life from this semester. That there are chapters & plotlines that exist outside of the confines of this screen — ups and downs alike. Why is this such a wonderful…
read more »Today has been far from perfect. The last few weeks have been far from perfect. Some mornings, it can be tough to remember why we’re all still coming in each day, especially now that testing is over. But there are a few moments — moments when I know that what I’m doing counts — that I want…
read more »I drafted a lengthy, pensive yet optimistic, I-can’t-believe-it’s-already-the-end-of-May kind of blog entry during my prep today… and then period 6-7 happened. It was, without a doubt, the most out-of-control 109 minutes I have experienced in my two years of teaching thus far. I had kids falling asleep, shouting at each other, refusing to sit in their…
read more »One of the most annoying phrases uttered in ed reform is some version of ‘poverty is not destiny.’ Occasionally they mix it up a little with something like ‘zip code is not destiny.’ The implication is that there are some people out there who think that every person born into poverty or born in a…
read more »On August 2nd, 2006 before tip-off of an NBA game, Natalie Gilbert was scheduled to sing the national anthem. She had the flu that day but she still decided to sing before the Blazers and Mavericks played to determine who would advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. The anthem began and it seemed like all…
read more »Dear Gary, I’ve often heard teachers complain about the latest reform “fad.” It’s understandable insofar as veteran teachers have been around for many rounds of “reform,” only to see each and every one swept abashedly into a locked closet in the back of the class (right next to where I surreptitiously put those pre-tests I…
read more »Finally, my long overdue video blog! Here I talk about the poetry club I started at Homestead Senior High and how it has been such an amazing platform on which students can stand and be heard. Towards the end, there is a video link to watch the spoken word piece my students inspired me to…
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