I hope it’s just me, but I’ve talked to a lot of discouraged educators lately, and it is just September. Why discouraged? Sometimes new laws or policies make an already demanding job even harder. Sometimes schedules are crazy or ceilings drip or test prep eats up far too much time. Sometimes folks feel blamed for … Continue reading
They say that medical students spend much of their early training examining themselves for symptoms of every disease they study, no matter how obscure. The more they think about something, the more they find evidence of it in their lives. I’m finding something similar (although less frightening) happening to me this semester as I’ve taken … Continue reading
It doesn’t take long watching any type of media to be reminded that we change as we get older. There is no shortage of products claiming to help us preserve our youth–dyes for our hair, creams for our wrinkles, and any number of prescriptions about which we are charged to “ask our doctors.” But perhaps … Continue reading
In my last post I said it seems questioning is in the air—and so it is. What should arrive in my latest ASCD Education Update but a newsletter whose headline reads “The Wonder Years.” If you are an ASCD member you can read the newsletter at the link, but simply reading the introduction gives … Continue reading
I didn’t mean to take most of December off from blogging. I really didn’t. But this year the end of the semester about did me in. Somehow the combination of the end-of-term grading, sewer pipe lining (don’t ask), last minute legal needs regarding my dad’s estate, and trying to manage a semblance of Christmas, meant … Continue reading
Teachers, how confident are you in your ability to engage students in learning activities? How confident are you in your ability to use a variety of effective instructional strategies? How about your classroom management? Are you confident in your skills in that area? A study from Turkey* suggests that teachers’ answers to such questions are … Continue reading
In a recent conversation with a friend, we ended up talking about play. She mentioned that she was going to go home and play—by reading a work-related book. Now, I really do enjoy my work, but to me, reading work-related books is work. It is not play, even when I find the books fascinating. Stuart … Continue reading
Who needs innovative thinking more than educators? What with constantly changing curriculum mandates, new methods, complicated relationships with colleagues and scores of individual students with needs, teachers have a lot to manage. One researcher* found that, when compared to 17 other professions, teachers responded to more stimuli per hour than anyone but air traffic controllers—and … Continue reading
Having a more creative school year is not about beautiful bulletin boards or teachers shouting from the desktops–though those don’t hurt. More importantly, it is about becoming a classroom in which students are encouraged to be their most creative selves, while learning content that matters. It is serious work, but it can be a lot … Continue reading
This week I was working with a group of teachers when one of them raised a familiar question, “How can I help students be creative when I’m not creative myself?” It’s a dilemma. If we really believe we are not creative, how can we help students go beyond our capacity? It can feel like being … Continue reading
