Shout out to all the first EDS Cohorts.  You are an amazing group of ladies and gentleman.  I have learned so much from each and everyone of you and wish you the best.  From you all, I have a renewed hope in our profession.  In many ways, more practical ways, I have learned to have [...]

What a great way to wrap up the semester.  There were mixed emotions in this chapter.  First it really enraged me when I was reminded of how our profession is overlooked by society as unimportant and easy.  This is reflected in our salary, the lack of respect we receive, and the lack of professional training we [...]

Assessment, assessment, assessment.  I don’t think there’s an educator out there that hasn’t gotten their earful of this term.  With AYP and NCLB, we can’t avoid assessments and it’s emphasized in our schools as early as Kindergarten with for example, GKAP.  How disheartening though to know that the initial purpose of assessments and how they are [...]

As I read this chapter, I asked myself how many times I thought that my parents did not care enough to participate.  One year I taught first grade at a charter school.  As part of the charter, each parent had to volunteer 15 hours of service to the school in what ever capacity they could [...]

I have been in and out of many schools in my current position, and school culture definitely plays a role in teacher attrition/retention and school morale.  After reading the chapter, I no longer believe that school culture is top-down.  I always believed that ”attitude reflects leadership” (Remember the Titans) but now I’m not so sure that’s [...]

Like everyone else, I really enjoyed Paul Gorski’s visit.  Typically, I can’t wait for speakers to end when I’ve been working all day but this time, I really wish we had more time.  I don’t know what his background is, but it amazes me how passionate he is for the underprivileged.  I have a better [...]

I was really alarmed by reading this article.  I think many teachers and administrators attend her workshops without knowing all the facts, or in this case, without knowing that her “research” and “case studies” aren’t really research but anecdotes.  To place the blame of our unequal educational system  on the “culture of poverty” seems so far fetched.  [...]

I really enjoyed reading these two articles on cultural responsive teaching.  I especially liked reading about the success stories and the online resources.  Caren and I are reading a book that portrays teachers who are culturally responsive (ethnically, regionally, urban/rural, etc.).  The teachers in our book, as well as the article, not only celebrate differences and [...]

“Withitness” (p. 202).  What a great term.  This chapter reminded me of when we were supervising our student teachers.  How a look, your proximity to the child, the activity, etc. can make such a great difference with classroom management.  You know, I’ve met a lot of teachers, especially special education teachers, who teach their remedial students [...]

I think like everything else in education, society places the blame on educators when they are the ones who tell us what we should/should not do without being educators themselves.  Education has become a political fight instead of a fight to enhance our future generation to become leading adults.  Everything in education seems to be a crisis.  [...]