I see Ms. Mason When I #PictureATeacher
What did I want to be when I grew up? When I was little, my answer was a dentist or an astronaut. But, I was a child of the 1960s, a turbulent time to be a young African American girl in the south. There were neighborhoods I couldn’t live in and places I couldn’t eat.…
Appreciate the Teaching Profession by Securing its Future
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, and teachers deserve it. Teachers deserve bagel breakfasts, flowers, and Starbucks gift cards. Teachers deserve higher pay, sane teaching loads, and technology that works. They deserve copy paper. Teacher Appreciation Week is a great time to give teachers these things. It’s also a good time to consider how to recruit and…
Words Matter: I Don’t “Give” Grades
My daughter loves cooking shows so we watch a lot of Food Network TV at our house. Most of these shows are competitions, and when the shows get to the elimination point I often feel myself becoming agitated. I couldn’t figure out why until one of our recent daylong staff meetings to assess student progress.…
$3 Million Grant to Boost Math Teaching and Learning
To strengthen the teaching and learning of mathematics in underserved middle schools and high schools in and around Orange County, Cal State Fullerton has been awarded a nearly $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Project partners are Anaheim Union High School District and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. See more at: http://news.fullerton.edu/2017sp/math-fellows.aspx
NBCT Named 2017 National Teacher of the Year
The Council of Chief State School Officers has announced that Sydney Chaffee, an NBCT and high school teacher in Boston, MA is the 2017 National Teacher of the Year. Chaffee teaches humanities at Codman Academy Charter Public School, where she focuses on the intersection of history and literature to help her students learn from lessons…
Teachers Must Be Ready to Engage
It was late winter in my ninth grade Humanities class. We were learning about the history of South Africa—how the white-ruled government oppressed people of color and called it “apartheid,” and how those oppressed people resisted. My student Mark was having a hard day. He had repeatedly disrupted class with disrespectful comments towards his peers.…
Teaming Up to Support Teachers, from Beginning to Experienced
When I first started teaching, nearly 20 years ago, I remember the excitement of setting up my classroom, preparing to teach three different high school English classes, supervise the student newspaper and act as the advisor of the junior class. By the end of September, reality had set in. My students had serious challenges outside…
Michael W. Kirst to Receive Prestigious James A. Kelly Award
ARLINGTON, Va. — April 3, 2017 — Michael Kirst, President of the California State Board of Education and Stanford Emeritus Professor of Education and Business Administration, will receive the National Board’s James A. Kelly Award for Advancing Accomplished Teaching on April 7, 2017, in Arlington, VA. The Kelly Award, named after James A. Kelly, Founding…
