Schools, businesses, governments, and other organizations attempt to accomplish goals. Ostensibly, it seems leaders can define what they will accomplish, decide how to measure the accomplishment, and plan for how to accomplish it. Some populations, for example business leaders and politicians, seek to accomplish goals that: Define test scores as the measure of learning; Test Read More
Category: Schools
Completing Your Data
As an undergraduate student studying botany, I got quite good at using dichotomous keys. Mine is still on my bookshelf and the $40.00 price tag is still attached (it was among the most expensive books I bought during my studies). It is almost 800 pages of plant descriptions along with either or questions. Does the Read More
On Control in #Classrooms
Whether we admit it or not, much of teaching requires students to do things they would not otherwise. Some students will read, write, compute, think, and interact for their own motivations or to comply, but in the absence of school and the assignments that accompany class, most students would not choose the work that comprises school. If we accept my premise, then one Read More
On Students Who Become Teachers
On January 17, 2022, I posted the tweet that is embedded below. It generated far more conversation than most of what I tweet, and the replies are worth the time to read. Some of the replies did challenge my overgeneralization and my lack of citing any references. Of course, those criticisms were spot-on. Most teachers Read More
Least Objectionable Curriculum
In the 1960’s, a television executive proposed the concept of the least objectionable program. According to this idea, programmers will broadcast the shows that are least likely to offend large parts of the population. It has been argued that adhering to this principle led television executives to support programming that was uninspired. In the time Read More
Elevator Pitch on Censorship
Educated individuals value the free expression of ideas, yet we recognize some ideas are distasteful, others harmful, and some are likely promoted by quacks. It is through our capacity to critically analyze ideas to decide which deserve our attention, which should be seriously considered, and which dismissed. Our human nature and our professional ethics lead us to Read More
On “Returning to Normal”
The “education industry” has been trying to navigate COVID for two years, and it looks like we will continue for the foreseeable future. One of the interesting aspects of this has been the insistence that we return to in-person teaching. I find this to be a puzzling situation. First, it is contrary to the pre-COVID Read More
Conditions for a Teacher’s Return
One of the obvious effects of the pandemic has been the stress on teachers; there is some questions about whether we are really seeing teacher participating in “the great resignation,” but I know some folks have been asking me if I am interested in returning to k-12 teaching. For context, I began teaching in 1988. Read More
Elevator Pitch on Working in School
Everyone has experience in school. If you are reading this blog, it is likely you attended elementary, middle, and high school as a child. You may have some experience in higher education or professional training. In addition, you may have experience as a parent or caregiver who has interacted with schools. One of the most Read More
Elevator Pitch on IT Work in Schools
There are many reasons why IT professionals decide to work in schools. Some want to use their skills for a socially responsible purpose. Compared to other businesses and industries, schools tend to be relatively low stress for IT workers. Network disruptions that would be disastrous in other industries can be managed and the effects more Read More