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What is Really Happening in Our Schools

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Education blog looking at educational policy to help you find out what is really happening in our schools

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Recent Posts

Be a doer! Be unconventional!

Visions of Good Education: Beau McCoy

Seven Years and Counting: Best Practices for Connecting with Students Part 4

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Decentering Whiteness in My Classroom

Decentering Whiteness in My Classroom

By David Mercaldo Angela Davis said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” As an educator and scholar of history living in the United States of America, I know that I am living in a racist society, but I should have known this earlier in life. I was taught from an early age to be kind to others and to be non-racist. I was not initially taught the wise words by Angela Davis and I wouldn’t learn them until I was a young adult. As an e

Five Strategies for K-12 Teacher Unity During COVID

Five Strategies for K-12 Teacher Unity During COVID

By Rachel Jorgensen This invited cross-post by Rachel Jorgensen originally appeared on Intellispark's Our Thoughts blog. COVID-19 causes a level of uncertainty in the natural rhythm of what it means to be in school for teachers and students. An experienced educator offers five strategies for teachers to come together to support the success of their students during this unpredictable time. Schools are currently wrestling with the correct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The

Tales from the First Year: The Steep Learning Curve Part 2

Tales from the First Year: The Steep Learning Curve Part 2

Tales from the First Year is a series chronicling the journey of seven first-year teachers as they learn, succeed, fail, and grow as educators. You will be able to read first-hand accounts of beginning teachers as they start their career during a global pandemic that will require them to teach in a virtual, hybrid, and in face-to-face environments. Our seven teachers include: Amberleigh Starr: a middle school teacher in a STEM school James Button: a high school teacher in a p

Tales from the First Year: The Steep Learning Curve

Tales from the First Year: The Steep Learning Curve

Tales from the First Year is a series chronicling the journey of seven first-year teachers as they learn, succeed, fail, and grow as educators. You will be able to read first-hand accounts of beginning teachers as they start their career during a global pandemic that will require them to teach in a virtual, hybrid, and in face-to-face environments. Our seven teachers include: Amberleigh Starr: a middle school teacher in a STEM school James Button: a high school teacher in a p

The Year Teaching Changed

The Year Teaching Changed

By Emma Walker You all are probably unaware of who I am so let me lead to a simple introduction. My name is Emma and I am a pre-kindergarten Intervention Specialist. Typically when people hear that they say, “Oh- that must be hard?!” I’ll start by saying it is hard. Nothing about my job is easy and that’s why it is even more difficult in the 2020-2021 school year. I work in an integrated classroom, which means we have eight students on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) an

Seven Years and Counting: Best Practices for Connecting with Students Part 2

Seven Years and Counting: Best Practices for Connecting with Students Part 2

In this four-part series, teacher Gene Deary reflects on what he has learned in his seven years as a teacher when it comes to connecting with students. In the series, Mr. Deary shares anecdotes and reflections on building rapport with students. By Gene Deary Be Direct and Explicit Sometimes you have to explain the little things to show that you care. This one time, a student of mine was accused of running down the hallway and causing trouble. Having not seen it with my own ey

Curating Happiness in Education During a Pandemic

Curating Happiness in Education During a Pandemic

By Ashlea Campbell “If we want children to be happy now and continue to derive happiness from their love of places, then somehow our curricula have to provide for this aim” - Nel Noddings Happiness and Education The Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent quarantine has brought about overwhelming concerns regarding public health and the spread of a deadly disease. In addition to these pressing concerns, educators and families have been thrust into a new normal of distance learnin

Three Resources for Bringing the Joy Factor to Your Online Classroom

Three Resources for Bringing the Joy Factor to Your Online Classroom

By Rachel Fuhrman As I gear up for the most unique school year I may ever encounter, I am focused on what I can do to provide an engaging, enriching, and exciting experience for my students. When I think about my classroom in previous years, I have always prioritized the joy factor through the use of humor and games. Now, I have shifted my focus to what bringing joy will look like online. While I hope to still be able to bring my sense of humor to my students virtually, I kno

The Case for Ecological Thinking in School Improvement

The Case for Ecological Thinking in School Improvement

By Dr. Matthew Clay In the last couple decades, a lot of engineering language has slipped into conversations about how we structure and operate schools. Whether focused on efficiency or system design, the shift has been difficult to miss. However, I would like to suggest that if we are to borrow a mindset of a scientific discipline for schools, it is ecology, not engineering that offers real potential. Engineers study isolated components of a system to seek to improve that sy

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