Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Condemn the transgression not the transgressor

This morning I was in my local supermarket and heard a stentorian admonition to the effect of, "You are a bad boy! You are very naughty!" Sure enough, I rounded the aisle-end to see a clearly-frustrated mother with a 5-ish year-old boy. I have no idea as to what he might have done, but I do recall a philosophy and set of practices I attempted to implement throughout my career.

Sunday, February 4, 2024

When "You're fired" is all over Youtube and Tiktok

As a head of school and school director, I occasionally had reason to dismiss an employee which was the second-worst professional conversation I ever had to have. (The first was over what is and is not appropriate clothing and personal presentation for an educator.) I would like to share one of these Cloudflare events which happened to me, and what I endeavored to do every time I found myself on the other end of such a conversation.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Socialism for me but not for thee

I heard this story at my weekly coffee catch-up (kaffeeklatsch?) with a former colleague which was pretty much the same as a family of claims and complaints I heard n my years a principal. In other words, I want what I want today even if it is the opposite of what I wanted yesterday.

Sunday, January 14, 2024

News : Baltimore mother accuses school of falsifying son's report card

I was recently sent this video link and was reminded me of something which happened several years ago. I too have a fake transcript.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Using Chat GPT and Other AI

A few years ago I advocated for the prohibition of cellphones in schools. I proposed that they be lockered between five minutes before school to five minutes after school, for whch I received a not inconsiderable amount of opprobrium and vitriol. Now of course the UN advises such a ban, which has been implemented by an increasing number of countries around the world.

Today I am advocating for the prohibition of AI and Chat GPT in schools, not because I am "anti-child" and "anti-education" but because I am pro both.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

News : Teachers should (not) receive overtime pay

That so many teachers raise or support overtime pay dismays me, and such a stance shows how far we have fallen. I use "we" collectively because I do not support it and I am certain that those of my generation and those who went before would not either. Even agreeing to debate overtime for teachers harms teachers and teaching, and further pushes us (collectively) to the bottom.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

High Quality Pre-School

I am doing a couple of consultancies at the moment in the Pre-School area, one with a new PS Director and the other with a Head of School who is planning on launching a PK - K program next year. Inevitably the question arises as what is a quality pre-school and or pre-school program.

Friday, December 1, 2023

News : Federal judge declines to block new Indiana law barring teaching of sex in grades K-3

This report from a few months ago prompts (not begs!!) several questions, and once again I am glad I am not a judge. Put simply, a group of people decided to oversimplify a number of complex issues and then pass once-size-all legislation. So what are these issues?

Thursday, November 9, 2023

News : Education is too liberal

The Atlantic's "The Unraveling of American Universities" (link below) caught my eye. When I read it, I was reminded of similar debates at the school level, some of which I discussed recently in "Take the Politics out of Education" (link below), and of two personal experiences. My earlier piece reviews  implication of this in terms of program contents. Here, I will say something about school governance.

Saturday, November 4, 2023

News : Take Politics Out of Education

A political candidate has recently called for "taking politics out of the classroom", just the latest to do so, and I am sure another such call will be made tomorrrow. This is obviously political, but it is also stupid. It is stupidity or the part of the speaker, or an assumption of stupidity in the target audience, or both. Education is a political act. Full stop. Period. What these people mean is "taking views and/or content I do not like out of the classroom".