When I walk into a classroom these days I feel like I am walking into a dance studio. I am the only one who isn't moving, learning, expressing, struggling or stretching and as a result, find myself sticking out like a sore thumb. For one, my' [...] 
I just read an excellent post on Bridging Differences about using test scores for teacher evaluation. My favorite part was this...Joanne Jacobs just covered Teaching for a Living, a Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates study.
Jacobs wrote
"Most of the disheartened teach in low-income schools. They’re frustrated with unsupportive administrators, disorder in the classroom and testing. Contented teachers typically teach in middle-income or affluent areas where they say their" [...]Joanne Jacobs just covered Teaching for a Living, a Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates study.
Jacobs wrote
"Most of the disheartened teach in low-income schools. They’re frustrated with unsupportive administrators, disorder in the classroom and testing. Contented teachers typically teach in middle-income or affluent areas where they say their" [...]
I just read about the political battle that raged recently in Wake County, one of the most highly acclaimed school systems in the country. I can't believe I am writing this but it is about busing. The county has a "diversity policy" that' [...] 
A former state superintendent will be coming to my Politics of Education class next week. I feel like I have gotten to know her well enough to know that she will ask more than one tough question. I think I know one she will ask. Virginia [...]
A former state superintendent will be coming to my Politics of Education class next week. I feel like I have gotten to know her well enough to know that she will ask more than one tough question. I think I know one she will ask. Virginia [...]
I recently spent my week in "paradise" at Nimrod Arts Program. The week long retreat has been my moment to be my "truest" self during the doctoral work I have been doing in educational leadership and the teaching I do during the school year. The past [...] 
On Friday I posted on my Facebook status, "John is getting up the gumption to paint again. It is scary like 7 year old thunder storm scary." The hardest part is getting started again especially when the painting sitting unfinished on my easel is not working [...] 
Sometimes I think of the teaching I do as training creative Jedi. Just think of me as Yoda for the pre-k set. From 3- 5 years old children experience a burst of creativity. Children are able to move from their imaginations to the real world seamlessly. [...] 
My son has a lucky dinosaur. He keeps it in his sock drawer and pulls it out when we play board games. His mother says that when she found it she "knew it was his lucky dinosaur." We have started to move him towards considering that [...] 
On TLN and on my friend Bill's blog there has been a heated discussion of the role of creativity in schools. In a strange turn of events, I will support the opposite position for a minute. In our discussion of creativity it is important' [...] On TLN and on my friend Bill's blog there has been a heated discussion of the role of creativity in schools. In a strange turn of events, I will support the opposite position for a minute. In our discussion of creativity it is important [...] 
I was asked recently about my experience of supervision in my first year. I am thinking back 12 years now. I was not observed formally more than three times my first year. I was observed informally numerous times. This year however, I have experienced a new [...] 
I was asked recently about my experience of supervision in my first year. I am thinking back 12 years now. I was not observed formally more than three times my first year. I was observed informally numerous times. This year however, I have experienced a new [...] I was asked recently about my experience of supervision in my first year. I am thinking back 12 years now. I was not observed formally more than three times my first year. I was observed informally numerous times. This year however, I have experienced a new [...] 
Gerald Bracey wrote an excellent post on the Huffington Post about what the heck happened with the Secretary of Ed nomination. He describes how the "frame game" was played and the people who have the most expereince with actual kids (teachers and teachers unions) got [...] Gerald Bracey wrote an excellent post on the Huffington Post about what the heck happened with the Secretary of Ed nomination. He describes how the "frame game" was played and the people who have the most expereince with actual kids (teachers and teachers unions) got [...] Gerald Bracey wrote an excellent post on the Huffington Post about what the heck happened with the Secretary of Ed nomination. He describes how the "frame game" was played and the people who have the most expereince with actual kids (teachers and teachers unions) got [...] 
Dear Mr. President-Elect Obama,Dear Mr. President-Elect Obama,Dear Mr. President-Elect Obama,
Yesterday Eduwonkette responded to Malcolm Gladwell's article on hiring teachers in the New Yorker. In It Gladwell uses the first bad metaphor I have ever seen him write. I am a big fan of Gladwell's work but it seems like he hasn't talked to [...] 
Yesterday Eduwonkette responded to Malcolm Gladwell's article on hiring teachers in the New Yorker. In It Gladwell uses the first bad metaphor I have ever seen him write. I am a big fan of Gladwell's work but it seems like he hasn't talked to' [...] Yesterday Eduwonkette responded to Malcolm Gladwell's article on hiring teachers in the New Yorker. In It Gladwell uses the first bad metaphor I have ever seen him write. I am a big fan of Gladwell's work but it seems like he hasn't talked to' [...] 
"Because we're working on identifying main idea in our reading classes, I asked my students a simple question: "What point do you think the [...]
"Because we're working on identifying main idea in our reading classes, I asked my students a simple question: "What point do you think the' [...]
"Because we're working on identifying main idea in our reading classes, I asked my students a simple question: "What point do you think the' [...]
I have been reading Clayton Christensen's Disrupting Class.In it he proposes that education, like all industries of a certain vintage, is ripe for disruptive innovation. He proposes that this will come about because technology provides unique opportunities for individualization in untapped markets like early childhood [...] 
I have been reading Clayton Christensen's Disrupting Class.In it he proposes that education, like all industries of a certain vintage, is ripe for disruptive innovation. He proposes that this will come about because technology provides unique opportunities for individualization in untapped markets like early childhood' [...] I have been reading Clayton Christensen's Disrupting Class.In it he proposes that education, like all industries of a certain vintage, is ripe for disruptive innovation. He proposes that this will come about because technology provides unique opportunities for individualization in untapped markets like early childhood [...] 
In the second chapter of Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen he describes the various reason's for schooling that have been present through out the history of organized education in America. Christensen describes the 4 jobs schools have been "hired" for:In the second chapter of Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen he describes the various reason's for schooling that have been present through out the history of organized education in America. Christensen describes the 4 jobs schools have been "hired" for:In the second chapter of Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen he describes the various reason's for schooling that have been present through out the history of organized education in America. Christensen describes the 4 jobs schools have been "hired" for:In the second chapter of Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen he describes the various reason's for schooling that have been present through out the history of organized education in America. Christensen describes the 4 jobs schools have been "hired" for:
In the maelstrom of our current economic crisis, a radical new education bill has made it out of the House and is headed to the Senate. The bill titled No Child Left Inside is making tiny little waves in the sea of education reform. [...] In the maelstrom of our current economic crisis, a radical new education bill has made it out of the House and is headed to the Senate. The bill titled No Child Left Inside is making tiny little waves in the sea of education reform. [...] In the maelstrom of our current economic crisis, a radical new education bill has made it out of the House and is headed to the Senate. The bill titled No Child Left Inside is making tiny little waves in the sea of education reform. [...] 
Its time for a Cage Match!Its time for a Cage Match!Its time for a Cage Match!
I am reading another "business model" educational reform book. Its title, Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, suggests that education needs to be shaken up. It is a very dense book that we will use this semester in [...] I am reading another "business model" educational reform book. Its title, Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, suggests that education needs to be shaken up. It is a very dense book that we will use this semester in [...] I am reading another "business model" educational reform book. Its title, Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, suggests that education needs to be shaken up. It is a very dense book that we will use this semester in [...] 
I believe firmly that assessments of any kind should be used to guide instruction at all grade levels. When teachers feel comfortable with their assessments [...]
Who reads the Wall Street Journal? Pretty
much anyone with any amount of political power reads it. So when the WSJ
publishes an Op-Ed you know that it is going to be read by the people who
will decide the future of public education in [...]
Who reads the Wall Street Journal? Pretty
much anyone with any amount of political power reads it. So when the WSJ
publishes an Op-Ed you know that it is going to be read by the people who
will decide the future of public education in [...]
Who reads the Wall Street Journal? Pretty
much anyone with any amount of political power reads it. So when the WSJ
publishes an Op-Ed you know that it is going to be read by the people who
will decide the future of public education in [...]
Who reads the Wall Street Journal? Pretty
much anyone with any amount of political power reads it. So when the WSJ
publishes an Op-Ed you know that it is going to be read by the people who
will decide the future of public education in [...]
Welcome to the Kiddie-Carnival. This week the Carnival is hosted in a pre-k class. We will spend a day Inside Pre-K. The Pre-K bloggers at my new gig will start us off here at Circle Time.Welcome to the Kiddie-Carnival. This week the Carnival is hosted in a pre-k class. We will spend a day Inside Pre-K. The Pre-K bloggers at my new gig will start us off here at Circle Time.Welcome to the Kiddie-Carnival. This week the Carnival is hosted in a pre-k class. We will spend a day Inside Pre-K. The Pre-K bloggers at my new gig will start us off here at Circle Time.
Perhaps his running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin, will encourage him to (increase federal support for pre-k) do so. Federal pre-k incentives could help [...]
My friend and mentor Bill Ferriter tagged me a while ago before I moved to Inside Pre-K to participate in a blog MEME. He asked me to write a post based on the National Public Radio series “This We Believe” where individuals share essays they have [...]
My friend and mentor Bill Ferriter tagged me a while ago before I moved to Inside Pre-K to participate in a blog MEME. He asked me to write a post based on the National Public Radio series “This I Believe” where individuals share essays they have [...]
My friend and mentor Bill Ferriter tagged me a while ago before I moved to Inside Pre-K to participate in a blog MEME. He asked me to write a post based on the National Public Radio series “This I Believe” where individuals share essays they have [...]
My friend and mentor Bill Ferriter tagged me a while ago before I moved to Inside Pre-K to participate in a blog MEME. He asked me to write a post based on the National Public Radio series “This I Believe” where individuals share essays they have [...]
I read this morning about Michelle Rhee's reform efforts in D.C. and couldn't help but be reminded of my experience in a school that has been turned-around by a "Turn-around" specialist in the past three years. The process was painful, exciting and scary. I also have [...] I read this morning about Michelle Rhee's reform efforts in D.C. and couldn't help but be reminded of my experience in a school that has been turned-around by a "Turn-around" specialist in the past three years. The process was painful, exciting and scary. I also have [...] I read this morning about Michelle Rhee's reform efforts in D.C. and couldn't help but be reminded of my experience in a school that has been turned-around by a "Turn-around" specialist in the past three years. The process was painful, exciting and scary. I also have' [...] 
[...] 
This video shows exactly what preschool is not about but it is hilarious. It reminds us to consider the goals of preschool and education as a whole.
[...] 
Over at Inside Pre-K Jennifer has posted a response to me response to Sarah Mead.
