faculty

Showing 682 posts tagged faculty

Teacher Prep Overhaul Teacher preparation is just one of many things in education that need fixing—from facilities to funding. The focus in recent years has been on innovation and accountability initiatives that seem fresher, newer, and possibly more fun than taking on teacher preparation. Education schools make K–12 systems and teachers unions look like pushovers. And there’s no “secret sauce” that researchers have found to help you figure out which teachers—or which preparation programs—are going to work out. image via flickr:CC |  michaelcardus Is 2013 the year of teacher prep? High-res

Teacher Prep Overhaul

Teacher preparation is just one of many things in education that need fixing—from facilities to funding. The focus in recent years has been on innovation and accountability initiatives that seem fresher, newer, and possibly more fun than taking on teacher preparation. Education schools make K–12 systems and teachers unions look like pushovers. And there’s no “secret sauce” that researchers have found to help you figure out which teachers—or which preparation programs—are going to work out.

image via flickr:CC |  michaelcardus

Is 2013 the year of teacher prep?

Are Teacher Evaluations Public? Assessing the Landscape In the wake of several states releasing large sets of “value added” data on individual teachers to media outlets last year, I wrote a widely read story for Education Week on whether formal teacher-evaluation records are publicly accessible. We found quite a lot of variation in the scope of states’ open-records laws. High-res

Are Teacher Evaluations Public? Assessing the Landscape

In the wake of several states releasing large sets of “value added” data on individual teachers to media outlets last year, I wrote a widely read story for Education Week on whether formal teacher-evaluation records are publicly accessible. We found quite a lot of variation in the scope of states’ open-records laws.
When To Put The Tech Away In Your 1:1 (or Any) Classroom Though failing to include any technology in the modern classroom is wrong, including too much, or employing it ineffectively, can be equally problematic. Having a list of specific instances where choosing to put away classroom technology is the right choice would certainly be nice, but like most pedagogical challenges it is also unrealistic. Oftentimes, it simply isn’t that easy to know whether to put it away or not., and the skill of making that choice develops over time – a bit like a callous. At its best, technology enhances, extends or deepens the learning taking place. At its worst, it detracts, distracts, and otherwise frustrates you and your students. When these situations cannot quickly and effectively be remedied – without sacrificing your lesson’s learning objective – put the technology down and embrace the lesson. The trick is to never let technology erode the relationships in your classroom… image via flickr:CC | altopower High-res

When To Put The Tech Away In Your 1:1 (or Any) Classroom

Though failing to include any technology in the modern classroom is wrong, including too much, or employing it ineffectively, can be equally problematic. Having a list of specific instances where choosing to put away classroom technology is the right choice would certainly be nice, but like most pedagogical challenges it is also unrealistic. Oftentimes, it simply isn’t that easy to know whether to put it away or not., and the skill of making that choice develops over time – a bit like a callous.

At its best, technology enhances, extends or deepens the learning taking place. At its worst, it detracts, distracts, and otherwise frustrates you and your students. When these situations cannot quickly and effectively be remedied – without sacrificing your lesson’s learning objective – put the technology down and embrace the lesson.

The trick is to never let technology erode the relationships in your classroom…

image via flickr:CC | altopower

Many teachers say they need training in Common Core standards Most public school teachers feel unprepared to teach math and reading to the Common Core standards that are rolling out in 45 states and the District, according to a poll of 800 teachers released Friday by the American Federation of Teachers. While a clear majority — 75 percent — of teachers surveyed by the union said they support the Common Core, less than one-third said their school districts have given them the training and resources to teach to the new standards. image via flickr:CC | unawe High-res

Many teachers say they need training in Common Core standards

Most public school teachers feel unprepared to teach math and reading to the Common Core standards that are rolling out in 45 states and the District, according to a poll of 800 teachers released Friday by the American Federation of Teachers.

While a clear majority — 75 percent — of teachers surveyed by the union said they support the Common Core, less than one-third said their school districts have given them the training and resources to teach to the new standards.

image via flickr:CC | unawe

What Teachers Really Want

If teachers are to transition to the kind of blended learning that has been found to work best for today’s kids, we need trust, time, and trained mentors to work out what what we need to do. We need parents to be our partners as we face the challenges in a changing educational landscape. We need room to fail (and to model failure as part if the learning process). We need help, not harangues.

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I have long pondered a phrase I learned from a mentor: “Witness the struggle.”

As a career educator, I have a deep desire to help students and a strong tendency to offer solutions and suggestions. I want to fix their problems and tell them what to do. The wise words of this phrase offer a more powerful and profound answer to the part of me that thinks I need to rescue students. Its simple urging suggests that I be fully engaged and present, that I use silence to clear a space, and that I guard against telling students what to do. More often than not, students simply need to know that their voices count, that they have been heard, and that who they are matters.

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Witness the Struggle: the Gifts of Presence, Silence, and Choice