Public education is a schizophrenic system. On one hand we talk about differentiating instruction and personalizing learning and on the other we group and target our non-readers, poor math students, those at risk for not passing the state tests. We speak of individualism but act on collectivism. These words carry a variety of meanings, but I want to use them in terms of education. We, for the most part, agree that people have different skills and talents and learn at…
The end of the school year tends to cause me to reflect on where I have been and where I am going. This year it seems to be more about where my fellow public school educators are going. I have been to several weekend educational events recently and chatting with friends and colleagues from across the country. Many are leaving public education or considering it. Some are retiring early, others moving to private education or a career change. These are…
We are at the end of April vacation in Massachusetts and Maine. April vacation always occurs the week of April 19th, Patriot’s Day around here. A remembrance of the battle of Lexington and Concord, the start of the war that set us firmly on the road to independence from England. I have always been fascinated by the time period 1600 -1820. There was a change in thinking which resulted in a change in governance, power and the world map. …
I have trying in vain to write a coherent piece about some things that have me thinking. Failing that I am sharing some ramblings. In education we often find ourselves trying to wrap our heads around and carry out new mandates and policies. Just when we think we are getting things settled it is out with the old in with the new. In Massachusetts MCAS tests and frameworks are becoming PARCC and the Common Core, the old ELL trainings will…
This morning while browsing through my feeds I came across this article “Why Don’t Top Private Schools Adopt Corporate Driven Reforms?” (Thanks for sharing Skip) As someone who has worked in private and public schools it has always fascinated me why public schools do what they do. I am often bewildered by my experiences in public education. This may be because I began my career in private schools and have never fully transitioned my thinking into public education. Before you…
There is much talk these days about abandoing traditional publishers and having teachers create their own content. There are many tools that make this possible, but just because it can be done, does not mean that it should be done. Having been a classroom teacher for almost 20 years and with increasing record keeping (data collection) I am not sure when a teacher can add this to their to do list. If a district did wish to create their own digital content…
I have found myself once again immersing myself in Universal Design for Learning both for a class I am teaching and to help justify to teachers why they may need to vary the tools and media they teach with. As educators we need to go back to the fundamentals of what, why and how we teach. I strongly suggest you take some time to explore these 2 related sites as they have much information and many examples to help inform your teaching. CAST and National Center on Universal Design in Learning