Yesterday the New York City Department of Education released student test scores on standardized test scores. What do they mean? It depends on whom you ask. Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said this: “These scores are indicative of the sustained progress we have made in classrooms, schools and districts across all five boroughs,” Carranza said in… Continue reading Everything You Need To Know About NYC’s Test Scores
I earned my initial certification to teach from New York State upon completion of a very rigorous 128-Credit Bachelor’s degree in English/secondary education, months of student teaching in classrooms that represented the grade-level in which I was seeking certification, and passing three challenging exams that tested my knowledge of not only English content, but professional… Continue reading Everybody Is Out Here Thinking That Being A Teacher Is Something Anybody Can Do!
“They were bullshit!” said my Dad. I burst out laughing . My soft-spoken father, who most often could be found reading history books and playing chamber music when he wasn’t teaching social studies at John Bowne High School in Flushing, so vehemently negative about the courses he took while earning his M.A. in education! At… Continue reading “Why Would Anyone In Their Right Mind Lower Standards?”: Charter Schools Win a Round
On Wednesday Mr. Trump rescinded federal protection for transgender students. The implications of that decision are huge, so much so that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia issued a reminder to all teachers and school personnel that New York State protects transgender students. “The Trump Administration’s decision to rescind… Continue reading Today It’s Transgender Students: Who Will Be Next? We Must Keep Our Students Safe!
Mark Twain once said, “in the first place God made idiots.This was for practice. Then he made school boards.” As a twelve-year school member in central New Jersey I could take umbrage at this quip but instead I’ll emend it: In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made certain… Continue reading Mark Twain Nailed It: Buffalo School Board Member Carl Paladino Is An Idiot
As we begin this new 2016-2017 school year, my earnest desire (and I hope it to be yours as well) is to uplift the teaching profession the way the teachers throughout my life have uplifted me. I pay homage to them because, outside of my family and friends, no other entity has poured into who… Continue reading New York City Teacher: “We Must Be At the Helm of Our Profession’s Ship”
