Floppy flopping

I was catching up with a former colleague the other day about early reading and the struggles her district is having. She was tasked with investigating several off-the-shelf plug-and-play programs, both US and foreign. One of the most famous and most successful around the world comes from the UK, Floppy Phonics, of which I had never heard.

A rose by any other name

I try to avoid any politics other than those connected with education so please see this as an educationally-related comment, specifically related to language, and not as a political assertion. (I can't believe I need to say that, but the curse of interesting times appears to have hit.) I am referring to Hamas and Israel.

We think it's learning; they think it's a grade

A school with which I am familiar is making a huge effort to change its focus from evaluation to learning (think NCLB in reverse). One of their strategies has been to move to outcomes and thus skills (or competencies) instead of simple recall and "stuff". Another has been to using performance statements (rubrics) rather than grades. The is to describe what a student has done so that s/he can see what can be done in addition to show improvement. Guess what happened.

Buy me a coffee

I was contacted recently by a parent asking me if I could tutor her son. I asked a few questions and what seemed to be needed was a mix of homework support, remediation and building self-confidence. I suggested we meet for an initial session where I could assess (approximately) his levels, and he could see if he liked me and  my approach. Then, she said that any sessions must be in-person.

Moving with the clouds

I wrote earlier about my colored preschool water initiative* which reminded me of my solar panel plan. About 25 years ago, when solar panels where quite rare, I devised a scheme aimed at our preschool and elementary students. The scheme would have made us the first school in the state to have a solar array, but instead of being economically-driven, my motivations were educational.

Yellow and red water with glitter

As I was washing some dishes this morning, I was reminded of something I once did in a preschool which lead to the barthrooms having yellow, red, mud-colored and sparkly water causing the students endless delight. 

Black and white

I have just returned from a week visiting relatives and attending a nephew's graduation in another state. I took a regional flight from my local airport to a major national and international hub, and then a rental car to the smaller regional city where they live. Along the way, I saw a lot of posters and billboards, and commercials on commercial and cable television and tv programs, I do not normally see. I now understand some of what is driving the right and far-right grievance in this country.

I'm glad I'm no ionger a principal

A former colleague of mine is a principal in a small PK - 12 independent school and she is in a bit of a pickle. Last week, she received a demand letter from a group of parents which in and of itself is not unusual and the school's typical response is along the lines of, "this is our Mission" and "this is what we do" and "it's a free market and you have other options". What was unusual was that later the same day, she received another demand letter from another group of parents insisting on exactly the opposite. So any action, including no action, would inevitably be regarded by one group as favoring the other,

What is education? Club access

I recently met up with a former colleague, Jo, who has been teaching internationally for several years. Jo had several tales to tell, but one in particular caught my ear. Her school was small and family-owned, solid and not stellar but doing pretty well in its niche. The parents-founders passed on, and the children-no-educators sold it to a large international venture-capital-backed corporation. Now, I am no Gordon Gekko, but I would still venture to define venture-capitalism as "we want a significant return quickly". How does that appear in an educationally-focussed mission statement, and in daily operations?

Teacher questions

I consult to several schools and the other day. whilst rambling on about one of my favorite topics, I thought I should share my pearls here. To wit, the importance of teacher questions. I know that this hugely significant tool in the toolbox has been widely covered elsewhere, but my spin on it is slightly less widely-covered. You see, I think teachers should be asking fewer questions.