The best teachers lead classrooms not merely by teaching but by facilitating. They not only create learning experiences; they also create circumstances for learning experiences to come about in various forms. Even better, they create environments that sustain learning on their own. Or perhaps the phenomenon is not as spontaneous and magical as it sounds. [...]
Students represent the most overlooked resource not only in a typical school, but in most communities at large.
By the time I was nine years old, I knew that Hank Aaron had hit 755 career home runs, that Ty Cobb had a lifetime batting average of .367, that Roger Maris had belted 61 home runs in 1961–a single-season record. I knew which baseball teams were in which major league, and I knew for [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Originally published on Open Salon on January 27, 2011: Teacher tenure comes up often lately in the discussion about how to improve our schools. The prevailing view of tenure holds that once a teacher has it, he or she has a secure job for life. Most people believe that tenured teachers can only lose their [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on January 21, 2011: A few comments today on a matter specific to New Jersey. There has been a public relations war going on for some time between our governor, Chris Christie, and the state teachers’ union, and it is going to heat up again very soon. When I speak [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on January 18, 2011: First, a word on how the public perceives teachers, particularly since the current economic crisis began to make its effects felt in late 2008. In my home state of New Jersey, budget cuts at the state level have impacted schools profoundly, and a great debate has [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on December 29, 2010: There is no soft way to put it: public education today is under fire, and the top concerns are funds and accountability. Each year hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on educating our nation’s children, and test results show that many students are not receiving [...]
Real Teaching 