When I was graduating from my teacher preparation program, I remember writing a “Philosophy of Education” statement in Microsoft Word. It had a cool font, and I printed it on cool paper. You looked at the thing, and you were like, “Dang. This guy.” So impressive… until you read it. That’s when you realized it should […]
School Level
Guest Post from Grant Piros: Two Things To Help Schools "Learn Forward"
Note from Dave: This is a guest post by Grant Piros. As a rule, I don’t do guest posts. But when Grant shared this piece with me, I found that I was sharpened. He clarified two questions for me this school year: How do we build stronger and more effective teacher learning teams? And how […]
Two Things To Help Schools “Learn Forward”
Note from Dave: This is a guest post by Grant Piros. As a rule, I don’t do guest posts. But when Grant shared this piece with me, I found that I was sharpened. He clarified two questions for me this school year: How do we build stronger and more effective teacher learning teams? And how […]
“Worksheets Are the Worst”
It’s common enough to hear a well-meaning teacher use language like this: Worksheets are the worst. There should be zero worksheets allowed in schools. Only bad teachers use worksheets. In one sense, I get it. When a class period becomes nothing more than a teacher distributing worksheet after worksheet to keep kids busy, that class […]
“Years of Experience”: What Kind?
If your school is like mine, your pay is tied to your years of teaching experience. I’m 11 years in, so I’m on the 11th pay scale step at my school. I’m not writing today to critique this method of teacher pay determination. I’m certain that there are better ways to determine how much a […]