Category Archives: In The News
Teachers, the End Is Nigh or How’d That Walker Guy Get Elected?
With all the vitriole aimed at teachers these days, it’s nice to know Jon Stewart is in our corner. If you care about teachers and what’s happening to them in Wisconsin, watch this Daily Show episode. And here’s an interesting … Continue reading
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Michigan Future Schools: Saving Detroit One School at a Time
In this era of budget cuts—and, therefore, era of “creative funding”—we must look to alternative ways to fund the kind of education our kids deserve. Michigan Future Schools, a non-profit out of Detroit, has a plan to finance new schools in one of the grimmest economies in the nation. Continue reading
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How to Make Better Teachers: Let Them Teach with Their Friends?
by JESSE SCACCIA Is the reason new teachers aren’t better–and that they don’t stick–because they’re lonely? Would our schools actually be better if it the teachers were college buddies as well as professional colleagues? This is just what was proposed … Continue reading
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Teachers: A Greedy and Selfish Lot, says the Wall Street Journal
by JESSE SCACCIA In this opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, titled oh-so-subtly “Pay Your Teachers Well; Their children’s hell will slowly go by,” the case is made that when teachers unions fight for things like shorter (more reasonable) … Continue reading
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Reflection: Comb Your Hair (Boys) and Smile (Girls)
by JESSE SCACCIA Something that’s probably obvious by now to our regular readers is that I’m a little obsessed with teaching “the whole student.” Good grades and high standardized test scores don’t mean anything if our students aren’t passionate about … Continue reading
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Bringing Joyful Back
Wanted to share with you all an excerpt from Linda Christensen’s poignant article, “Teaching for Joy and Justice,” from the most recent Rethinking Schools. I don’t typically like to excerpt things this long, but here Christensen earns a rare exception. She touches upon one of the central dilemmas of teaching, while offering a vision of education in which both parties, student and teacher, can feel a little better about themselves. Continue reading
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Stalking our students on MySpace
by JESSE SCACCIA Summer vacation! Finally teachers can sleep in past 6 am, go to the bathroom whenever they feel like it, and cruise the Internet for hours and hours everyday. I love the Internet, but it is totally sin-spiring. … Continue reading
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With my mind on my money and my money on poster board and permanent markers
by ALISTAIR BOMPHRAY So I’ve been thinking about money lately. As in, where’d all mine go? Oh yeah—I spent it on backstage passes for the upcoming NKOTB reunion tour. Step One: We can have lots of fun! Actually, a hefty … Continue reading
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The solution to homeschooling?: Football
by JESSE SCACCIA I have been fairly unapologetic about my belief that homeschooling, in most cases, is probably not the best choice for the child. This group of shoulder pad wearing homeschoolers in Georgia has given me second thoughts. This … Continue reading
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