This morning I read a post from a higher education educator about the negative effects of Tech in lectures. The author was perplexed when he realized a great many students in his lecture hall were paying attention to Facebook, or attending to email during the course of a two-hour lecture. His school chose to ban tech devices from the lecture hall. Additionally, students were required to use nametags, so that the lecturer could address individual students with…

Separate, equal-ish

If wealthy Malibu can convince less-affluent Santa Monica, Calif. that two districts would work better than the one they now share, it could offer a template for others around the country that have sought independence from their less-well-off partners, writes Kyle Spencer for The Hechinger Report. "Separatist movements" are increasingly common as parents in mostly white, mostly middle-class communities in and around such places as Memphis, Salt…

With the acceleration of every kind of communication and information, technological developments from 3D printing to cars that drive themselves, a national fixation with the quality of schools is inevitable. But still, the voices heard remain those from outside of schools. Corporate magnates and politicians are forcing school change, albeit with little understanding of the school- community complexity.     …

That was my title for an article which the American Thinker changed to "Public schools chew up teachers and spit them out."

Okay, that's colorful. But it misses the essential point that I want to emphasize. The Education Establishment, which should be very…

What may be holding back one teacher may not be holding back another. What may seem overwhelming to one may not be to another.  What may be encouraging to one teacher may not be to another.  How to find the answers and move everyone forward?  Leaders need to be able to ask the right questions for each person. Read more...

Virginia Beach public schools are discussing a new initiative called Compass to 2020, aka the Strategic Framework. Seems to me it’s mush on steroids.

 One of the many “strategies" is this: “Develop a plan to systematically integrate developmentally appropriate social emotional learning strategies into the…

What Makes for Effective Professional Development?

In this Teachers United report on teacher preparation, support, and retention, Sarah Margeson, Chris Eide, and Alison Fox list the criteria for effective professional development:

• It is designed to improve teacher effectiveness as measured by improved student outcomes.
• It is tied to schoolwide reform efforts, a clearly communicated vision for student…

Foreign language websites – This regular feature in The Language Educator recommends several free websites:

• LessonPlanet – This site www.lessonplanet.com has thousands of lesson plans and worksheets for Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.
• Visual Dictionaries in English…

 People say things and do things that offend.  It is human nature.  But for those in public service, and those who work in service of children, teaching and leading, learning how not to say or do things that offend is essential. There are opportunities for learning how to communicate, how to institute new programs or follow new mandates. Professional development about the use of social media, training from developers of newly adopted programs, and information from…

I wrote the following which appears in today’s edition of the Baltimore Sun in the Readers Respond section.

Liz Bowie’s recent reporting on Maryland’s teacher evaluation system (Where ineffective teachers are found, November 2, 2014) raises many questions.  Bowie’s investigative report contains several quotes from Sandi Jacobs, the vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality.  The NCTQ is a Washington think tank with a clear political agenda that is…