The massacre in Orlando has spurred many complicated thoughts for me and for everyone I know. It’s a time of sadness, anger, unity, energy. It can feel overwhelming. Can you imagine what it’s like for school-age children and adolescents? A former student asked me recently, what goes through a teacher’s mind in a situation like… Read More »Teaching After Tragedy
Check out this post I published on the Writers Who Care website. Is Your Child Getting a Good Writing Education? Four Questions to Ask Your Child
I have conflicting views on two aspects of what I’ll call “Teacher Citizenship.” I have one view on blackboards. I have a conflicting view on desks. I’ll see if by the end of this post I’ve worked that conflict out, but I doubt it. Erase the Blackboard When You’re Done, Please I teach at a university.… Read More »Boards and Desks: Two Views on Classroom Maintenance
I’ve been teaching the first-semester course in a teacher education program since 2003. This is the very first course that students take after they’ve been admitted to the teacher education program. On the first evening of class, I always ask the students to work in groups to answer the following questions: What are you most… Read More »Parents: Allies, Not Enemies
Measurement in capitalism is pretty easy: It’s profit. You can tell how effective something is by how much money it makes. Education is actually just this easy. What we should measure, the only thing we should care about, the only discussion we should have, the only thing we should fund, the absolute bottom line is:… Read More »The Bottom Line in Education: Real Student Learning
I’ve been hearing in general and reading, mostly on Facebook, a lot of complaints lately about young people. The usual rants. You know: lazy, entitled, bad manners, bad grammar, and on and on. I fight these attitudes when I have the time (and the patience), but it has also reminded me of how important “liking… Read More »Do Teachers Like Their Students? This One Does
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with 8 New York State Assembly members and Senators in separate meetings at the state capitol. These meetings were arranged by the United University Professions (the SUNY Union), and we met in teams of 4-6 to advocate for specific legislative and budget proposals that would benefit SUNY,… Read More »Advocating for Education: Meeting with Legislators
Tonight is the first session of a new class I’m teaching. At this stage in my career, I’ve been in this situation over 100 times. Here’s a confession: I am still nervous. I’m not afraid anymore. I am confident things will go well enough. But I am nervous about making sure I do my job well, that… Read More »The Value of Nervousness
Cherished colleagues of mine recently gave me the greeting card above. I have too much to say about grammar in general to write in a single post, so I’ll just write a quick one here to make a point. I LOVE this card. I think it’s funny, and I love that grammar is personified and is… Read More »When We Use Grammar
One of the most important things a teacher can do is use the names of his or her students. Using a student’s name evokes such power, it’s almost mystical. It’s an incantation, and enchantment. There’s a reason why some demons in ancient stories lose their power if you learn their names, or why if you say… Read More »The Magic of Using Students’ Names
