Originally posted on Open Salon on June 21, 2012: Some months ago I wrote about Melanie, a schoolmate of mine who was bullied mercilessly decades ago when we were in the sixth grade. Much of the abuse took place on the school bus, and I wrote about my role as an inert bystander who failed [...]
Tag: education
Vice-Principal: No Second Banana
Originally posted on Open Salon on May 24, 2012: Some time ago I completed a master’s degree program in school administration at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education. Shortly thereafter, I received a certificate making me eligible to be a principal or assistant principal. Since then, I have had a few interviews for jobs that [...]
Calm Classroom, Sparkling Desks
Originally posted on Open Salon on February 22. 2012: “Kids today!” This hackneyed exclamation has been around for generations, and people of every generation think they invented it. “Our parents didn’t let us get away with things like that!” This is probably true. “My father used to take his belt to me!” I think the speaker [...]
Being a Bystander Made Me a Bully
Originally posted on Open Salon on October 13, 2011: In sixth grade, I did perhaps the worst thing I could have done to or for another person—nothing. That person was a schoolmate named Melanie, and the memory of what I saw her endure that year haunts me to this day. Melanie was not ugly or [...]
How I Spent the Beginning of My Summer Vacation
Originally posted on Open Salon on July 25, 2011: I have not posted in some time, as I’ve been away for several weeks due to illness and travel. I’ll use this post to tell a brief story whose moral is that we all ought to set some limits for ourselves. I had a week off [...]
Five Things All Teachers Must Do
Originally posted on Open Salon on June 12, 2011:When it comes to educating our children, all stakeholders need to remind themselves once in a while of things they must do in order to ensure success. In this post, I share five things that I have learned from my colleagues over the course of my career [...]
Hail, Fredonia!
Originally posted on Open Salon on May 31, 2011: I do not allow myself as a teacher to play favorites. I may have a favorite novel to teach or a favorite unit; I even have favorite colleagues. But when it comes to the students, I make it a point to favor no one—not an individual, [...]
How I Dress at Work
Originally published on Open Salon on April 9, 2011: Recently, I have given a great deal of thought to a particular tendency in our culture that has powerful implications, not only for my work as a teacher, but also for society as a whole. A personal anecdote serves as an introduction. For about twenty years [...]
Chris Christie and School Rules: Making Things Sensible?
Originally published on Open Salon on April 5, 2011: The Star Ledger reports today that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is creating a task force that will review state rules for school districts with the goal of eliminating forms of regulation that interfere with the efficient function of schools. Reporters Ginger Gibson and Jeanette Rundquist [...]
Teachers, Unions, and Reasons to Reflect
Originally posted on Open Salon on March 3, 2011: Any true education blog must, in this moment, provide commentary on public policy set at the state level and its impact on public education. Let the highest profile examples and the obvious points come first: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is clearly targeting teachers. He is attacking [...]
Real Teaching 