Teaching

Fridays

George Wood — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

This past week I was in Washington to talk with colleagues and friends about the upcoming debates over NCLB. While I enjoy the city and my friends, it was great to get back to my school just in time for Friday—one of my favorite days. And it has nothing to do with it being the day before the weekend.

Every other Friday my staff and I meet for what we call ‘planning period meetings’. Since we are on a semester schedule with long periods this means we have about an hour to talk about our shared work. During the first semester of the year we read a book together and discuss it. In the second semester we take on a protocol called ‘looking at student work.’

The Six Standards of School Quality

George Wood — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

(Previously published on Valerie Strauss' blog, "The Answer Sheet," in the Washington Post.)

Years ago, I learned that if you want to communicate with people, it’s best to avoid jargon.

It was my fourth year as principal, and I’d decided to add a portfolio requirement for graduation. After two years of study, meetings, and hearings, we were ready to move forward and decided to share the plan with the entire community. Feeling creative, we decided to put the entire proposal in a booklet and mail it to every district resident.

Then, mistakenly, we decided I would write the booklet.

Giving Teachers the Reins

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:42:35 -0400

On October 22, the Forum hosted a panel discussion in Washington, DC about how to invest in the creation of a long-term teaching profession in the United States. The following article about the event, written by Anthony Rebora, appeared in Teacher Magazine. A copy of the Forum's policy brief can be found at http://rethinklearningnow.com/resources/Teaching_Brief_1009_ForumForEd.pdf.

Slow the Preschool bandwagon? Not so fast . . .

Deborah Meier — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:28:22 -0400

What I appreciate about Chester Finn is that he always has some good points to make. But Finn makes one good point and several questionable and fallacious ones in his Washington Post Op-Ed, “Slow the Preschool Bandwagon” (May 15, 2009). The good point is that it would help at-risk children and their families to have intensive support from birth to age five. When this was done in North Carolina’s Abecedarian Project, I.Q. scores rose, special education placement rates fell from 48 percent to 25 percent, and grade retention declined from 55 percent to 31 percent.

New Report Chronicles a "Crisis in the Kindergarten"

Deborah Meier — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:54:55 -0400

The Alliance for Childhood’s new report, Crisis in the Kindergarten, offers a careful account of what's actually happening in early childhood classrooms across the country.

The news is frightening.

Back to the Classroom

Harry Feder — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

After a year of practicing law in the pursuit of commerce (my second stint as a litigator; the first one lasted eight years), I am returning to the high school classroom. I am excited and a little nervous at the prospect. In my first go round as a teacher, I taught social studies at Urban Academy in New York City, a small public high school that affords its teachers immense curricular freedom and that graduated students based on performance assessments – analytical papers, science and research projects, solutions and explanations to applied mathematical problems, public presentations – that truly assessed their college-ready skills.

What I Learned in School This Year

George Wood — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

For one of the few times this year, I am alone at school. It is the weekend after all the reports were due for state accountability, after the final requests for next year’s materials were sent to the treasurer’s office, and after I sent off my final report to the school board. Time to clean up my desk, catch up on some reading, write some notes to faculty members—and think about what I learned in school this year.

The Last Day (of School)

George Wood — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The scenes from the last day of school in my community:

At one elementary the buses lined up and were loaded with happy, laughing kids, from pre-school to fifth grade, carrying their towels and lunches for a day at the swimming pool. The line of buses was followed by a parade of cars carrying parents, siblings, and relatives—all part of the end of the year "pool day."

Teacher Quality

George Wood — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400