What Do Students Mean When They Say School is “Boring”?

In this sidebar in a Kappan article, Colorado educators Lois Brown Easton and Michael Soguero say that educators’ response to students who say they’re bored is often, “We’re not here to entertain you. We’re here to teach you what you need to know.” But the most recent results from the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) show that there are…

Bias is a very personal and deeply stealth orientation, set of feelings, and frame of mind; so deeply, in fact, can bias be hidden that it can go totally unnoticed by the holder. Denial may not be dishonest. It may be the result from simply being unaware. Gender bias exists from the very beginning of life. It does not begin in schools. It begins at birth.  One might think that "we've come a long way baby" and in some ways we have.  But evidence that "we've got a long way to go" exists…

Although STEM is a four-subject acronym, it is not only the subjects themselves that prepare students for the future. It is the manner in which these subjects exist in service to each other, and the manner in which their application serves as an externalized learning process that becomes visible to the teacher and the learner.  Our belief about STEM is, as we have written often, that it is an expansive term that invites all subjects into the process all based upon the talents and…

Suppose, instead of the grandiose, totalitarian, billion-dollar approach that doesn't turn out well, Bill Gates wants to sponsor education reform that quickly and efficiently produces fine results....

 In short, he wouldn't do something like Common Core, a vast federal program that is top-heavy, top-down, and contemptuous of everything at the bottom. No, he'd stay miles away from that.

 But how about he looks for the quick, simple, even down-and-dirty…

Bringing the use of technology forward, embedded into teaching and learning, is the responsibility of school leaders. The words "professional development" create a picture of Superintendent Conference Days or trips to conferences. Without the leaders' attention, support, and modeling, pockets of use and resistance will remain within the school leaving uneven opportunities for use by students. Resulting changes may be seen in cases of individual efforts. Yet unless truly led by the…

Should King be formally nominated as education secretary?

Each educator has a responsibility to create the environment in which every student can succeed. Roles may be different, but the responsibility the same. However, it is the superintendent, in concert with the central office and building leaders, who hold the responsibility for leading a community of faculty and staff. Certainly, if a teacher is dedicated to that end, within that specific classroom, there are successes which can become foundational for future…

Anybody still confused about why we're having so much trouble with reading should look at this short article.

It explains why reading and phonics should be considered interchangeable terms.

You cannot teach a phonetic language without phonics. Phonic, phonics, and phonetic are equivalent derivatives from the Greek word for sound. That's the beginning and…

Using Students’ “Daily News” Stories in Primary-Grade ELL Classes

In this article in The Reading Teacher, University of Wyoming/Laramie researcher Patrick Manyak describes “Daily News”, a literacy activity he observed in two California English-immersion grade 1 and 2 classrooms. This was one of a number of balanced literacy strategies used by these two teachers. Here’s how this 15-minute activity…

Family Conferences

By Marion Ivey October 30, 2015 4:00 am…

Are We Surrendering Too Easily to Digital Distractions?

In this article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Frank Furedi (University of Kent, England) says many U.S. college professors believe that digital devices have made today’s students so distracted, fragmented, and unfocused that they can’t be expected to read books all the way through. Sadly, he says, “reading is not seen as a cause worth fighting…

Teacher involvement key to 1:1 device success

Dive…