In a surprise ruling this week, Judge Lawrence Moniz found that 17-year-old Michelle Carter's words were the contributing cause of Conrad Roy III's suicide. She was found guilty of manslaughter in what was called a "texting suicide" case. This is a story of young lives: one lost and one ruined and two families left with lifetimes of sorrow. The actions of Mr. Roy, following the directions of his girlfriend, raises questions about his story. And hers. And the ongoing state of the mental…

In a recent conversation with a parent who is sending her only child to kindergarten, we heard her concerns about the school district in which she lives. Although including a small middle class neighborhood, over 80% of the district's student population are on free and reduced lunch, a key indicator of poverty. For several months this young mother tried to make an appointment to visit the school but she received no follow up with an appointment time.  Finally, on kindergarten…

Are you a new MS teacher? These resources offer help and inspiration

Using leveled books in student-led conversations

The addition of highly trained STEM teachers and paying them, as well as all teachers, for work they do is a good direction.  But, without a fundamental structural change that supports a new way of teaching and learning, we will continue to get nearly the same results. Without the partnerships of business, community organizations, and higher education, we cannot leverage the change fully. Without architects who understand that STEM/STEAM learning labs must allow for flexible structure…

If you'd like to feel your head spin, try to understand the justification for Constructivism, a destructive pedagogical theory and method that has infested K-12 education.

 Let me sum up the situation with the words of Allen Ginsberg:

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by sophistry

 scheming  hysterical shameless,…