It’s that time of the year again. It’s winter, or as teachers and students think of it, snow-day season. When the weather outside is frightful, teachers and students alike gather around the TV to look at the ticker on the bottom of their choice of newscast. Of course, the hope is to see the name…
The college entrance process can be nerve-racking for students and families even more so when you consider the stress and pressure that comes along with the ACT and SAT. These standardized tests have long been considered to be a way to assess students and school quality, but recently, they have come under scrutiny. Some critics…
In 2012 three schools, Emma Donnan Middle, TC Howe High, and Emmerich Manual High, were taken over after being deemed chronically failing under IPS’s rule. Friday, the groundwork was laid to return those schools to IPS. Right now, the three schools are operated by Charter Schools USA under a state-mandated takeover. The contract to manage…
One of the most taboo subjects in the teaching community is the subject of different treatment for different students. Most people generally consider it bad to treat people differently. But in my opinion, this is the wrong take. I don’t know a single teacher, good or bad, that treats all of their students the same….
As a teacher, this is always the worst time of the year. Students are misbehaving in anticipation of the break. I have to find a way to buy Christmas gifts for two sets of families out of a teacher’s salary. But the most annoying part of this time of year is being accosted by students…
If you in any way shape or form follow college sports, then you know that a cosmic shift is on the horizon. The state of California passed a law that allows college athletes to profit from their name and likeness. This set off a chain reaction that effectively strong-armed the NCAA into re-evaluating their long-held…
This is normally the time of year where we start getting results from all the standardized tests of the previous year. With that comes the think pieces about how US students are trailing countries like Singapore and Finland in math and science. Though we have become accustomed to hearing about the math and science gap,…
Educators are often told to only focus on things within their locus of control. This makes sense considering it is the only thing we have power over. I can’t control what happens outside the four walls of my class; therefore, most of my time and energy should be spent there. However, in this modern age…
“The learning should be its own reward.” This is a common refrain told to new teachers. It is mainly used to discourage giving students rewards for meeting expectations, a practice known to many as bribing. I stop just short of calling it bribing. I typically opt for the term incentive or rewards; however, the general…
One of the biggest hurdles for low-income families is childcare. Lack of childcare presents problems for working families. For example, if you are a single mother, it is hard to hold down a job if you don’t have anyone to watch your children. Yes, you can pay for daycare or something similar, but that…