teachers
RttT Changed the Landscape
Race to the Top has already changed the landscape–that and Obama and Duncan’s backbone. Â They’ve done what no Republican president has had the nerve to do–take on teacher effectiveness. Â Their willingness to incorporate tough language in RttT resulted in 40 states developing very aggressive plans to dramatically improve teacher effectiveness.
Common Core, Day 2
It’s the dawn of a new era. America took a big step forward yesterday and you probably missed it. The nation’s governors and state school chiefs released Common Core State Standards to a decidedly mixed buzz—there is something for everyone to criticize. Before the carping, editing and adding reach a…
Bloomfire Formalizes Informal Learning
Here’s an article with a little western MI love for  Bloomfire , a Kalamazoo start up creating groups “of informal, social-learning opportunities can be dedicated to anything from sales strategies to fishing.” Bloomfire Manefesto is a little groovy, but if you’re not thinking about the future of…
Bad Proxies for Good Teachers
Read Rotherham’s Atlantic article on Teach For America (TFA) and what it takes to be a good teacher. It’s a great summary of what the field, TFA in particular, has learned recently about the attributes of good teachers. However, it’s frustrating that we remain so unsophisticated about the predictive…
The Weight 2
On a sunset walk after a spectacular day on Poverty Bay with blue sky and fresh snow on the Olympics, I thought of three personal stories that illustrate the weight of leadership. 1. The afternoon I was appointed superintendent, I had coffee at the mall and watched hundreds of…
Motivation May be More Important than Style
Jay Mathews dug up a report that suggested there was little evidence “to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice.” Â I think most teachers would agree that it’s obvious that kids learn in different ways. Â But it’s fair to say that books like multiple intelligences was taken…
Educational Dilemma: Rigor v Relevance
We argue about testing in the US, but the focus on and stakes related to testing is much higher in China and India where the tip of the human funnel is the 12th grade exam; to a large life options hang in the balance. In the US, there are lots…
Belief + Acceleration + Effective Practice = Success
Paul Wezman changed my daughter’s life. Â He is an extraordinary teacher that in the mid-90’s was making full use of instructional technology. Â Here’s a note from him about the importance of our perceptions of what kids can do and the importance of effective instruction. Â He’s a middle school math teacher…
The Best of School: Lawrence & Zolynas
M. Scott Peck defines love as, “The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” When I read that sentence on a beach after my first year as superintendent, I scribbled ‘teaching’ in the margin.  What could better describe the work of teaching.
Augmented Reality will improve field trips
eSchool News posted a update on Augmented Reality. Here’s a couple snippets: This computer-enhanced view of the world is not just available to cyborgs in science-fiction movies. Increasingly, it can be found on cell phones, for free or on the cheap, through programs that provide “augmented reality.”…