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…
It is finally here! The moment educators have been dreaming of has arrived. It’s winter break, but are you really taking a break? Too many educators use breaks to do more work and then they return to school tired and needing another vacation. Do not be that person. Take care of yourself. Here are some…
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…
Earlier this month, Andrew Pillow shared his teacher Christmas list, so let’s keep that ball rolling. This school year, I made the transition (some say to the dark side) from teacher to administrator. If you believe it gets easier as you climb the professional ladder, you would be mistaken. The workload increases and you constantly…
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…
Regardless of your profession, mentorship can be powerful. We need long term teacher mentoring in education. This is one way to improve the quality of educators in the profession. If a teacher follows the traditional track as an educator, the teacher concludes the college experience with student teaching. It’s like an internship. It is supposed…
One of the hardest weeks of the school year is the week before winter break. The turn up is real. Students start acting as if you didn’t spend the first few weeks of the school year forcing them to internalize routines and procedures. It’s like they forgot you reviewed these routines and procedures after fall…
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…
Eddie Rangel and Matthew Rooney are two experienced Indianapolis school leaders who recently founded Adelante Schools, a non-profit school management organization. The mission of Adelante schools is to unite in solidarity with families and community to create a joyous neighborhood school, preparing all scholars to graduate from college and lead lives of leadership and service…