21 May
These are the features I loved a year ago, and thankfully, still exist today:READ MORE…
6 May
1 May
Not my words.
I live and breathe teaching. I really can’t imagine doing anything else, well, except writing.
These words were spoken by a teacher friend of mine.
He sounded so down when he said it.:(
He is overwhelmed, as are we all.READ MORE
24 Apr
I love National Poetry Month! I used to write poetry, maybe I will again some day. But in the meantime, I like to give my kids a chance to grow to love writing poetry as much as I do.
There was a time, pre-standardized testing, when we would gather up all our original poetry, pair it with two really funny pieces of poetry, and have Poetry Day. We would invite the parents, and each child would share one of their poems. We would read the two poems we chose as a group, one in the beginning, one at the end. Afterwards, we would have snacks and juice, provided by the parents. Aaaah, good times. 
READ MORE…
11 Apr
I was at a meeting this morning, (Yes, another one). This one was about Common Core writing standards. I sat there, staring blankly at the PowerPoint presentation being READ to me. (That’s another post topic).
The presenter showed screen after screen of what is expected of us next year when we implement the Common Core writing standards.
4 Apr
The original post was written in July 2011. Here we are in 2013, faced with anothercheating scandal, and people are going to jail. Is there another way?
I read an article by Jay Matthews of The Washington Post the other day, “Easing Test Pressure Won’t Save Kids”, and it went along with something I had been thinking about ever since “The Cheating Scandals” broke. I don’t agree with everything he had to say in his article, but there was one element that struck me. Is cheating acceptable because of the enormous pressure put on teachers, principals, and superintendents? Is it alright to excuse, justify, or rationalize cheating, because of the intense pressure put on schools due to standardized testing? READ MORE…
2 Apr
I have to say, I am, pretty much, allowed to do what I want in my classroom.(Probably because my kids pass those tests)
My school is not an AYP school, or whatever they call “failing” schools these days.
I don’t ” teach to the test”, and yet, my kids still manage to pass those idiotic, “waste of instructional time”, “money down the drain”, “accountability for teachers”, so-called assessments.
So, why would I need to join the protest, “Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools“? READ MORE…
16 Mar
“Mom, can I borrow your camcorder?”
His next question, “Mom,do you have a flash drive?”
A what?
My son’s Senior Project was due in three days. My son hates letting me see his work because I automatically shift into teacher mode. My expectations for him are higher than what is expected of him in school. Therefore, he doesn’t let me see anything that he is required to do.READ MORE…
photo credit: molotalk via photopin cc
9 Mar
This morning I noticed I was being followed, (on Twitter), by Julia Leonard of MathWorksheetsLand.
I cringed. I am not a fan of worksheets. I especially detest Math worksheets with 20 or more problems written in nice, neat descending rows, daring you to complete them all. Of course, if you know what you are doing, piece of cake. If you don’t, it’s a jumble of meaningless numbers. My motto is, if you can’t do one, you can’t do 20!READ MORE…
8 Mar
At the end of the day, one of my students approached me.
“Mrs.M, my mom and I went to a restaurant last night,and we were sitting by three teachers. They were talking about their students and saying mean things. They were calling them stupid, weird, and ugly.”READ MORE…
