We see growing protest on tests so why not add your voice too? And it’s coming from a wide variety of places. A group of famous children’s book authors, headed by Maya Angelou, has written to President Obama, pointing out that the tests are destroying kids’ love of reading. 6,000 Long Island students have opted […]

We are seeing more and more ways teachers can use their voices to speak up on issues like testing. The website http://testingtalk.org just went up a few days ago and already has 174 posts by teachers and administrators as of this writing. You can post anonymously if you’re worried about getting punished for speaking out. […]

Rochester teachers are getting slammed by new evaluations that fail to take account of widespread student poverty. 40% of the teachers across the city have been told they are below par and must prepare remediation plans. The Rochester Teachers Association has filed suit with the New York Supreme Court. In Syracuse, even high school gym […]

The latest PISA international test score comparisons are out, and they portray US education is pretty mediocre. According to the charts, we ranked 20th among other countries in reading, 30th in math, and 23rd in science. As parents, community members, politicians, and education critics begin asking about these numbers, we teachers need to be well […]

I’ve gathered a group of articulate educators for a session on helping teachers connect with communities at NCTE next week.If you are attending the convention, we hope you attend — it’s session F55, Saturday, Nov. 23, 8:00-9:15 AM. Peter Smagorinsky will be our featured speaker. He has written portraits of many outstanding teachers and had […]

The Courageous Teacher Responds to Governor Christie OK, people! If you haven’t already seen it, here’s how the teacher herself — the one who had Governor Chris Christie yelling in her face — responded in a letter on her blog. (Incidentally, if he was one of her students, what would be the consequence of such […]

Watching the news lately? Seeing/hearing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie yell at a teacher  and say all teachers want is more money? NJ school spending has increased, he argues. She then writes to him on a blog, “You have portrayed us as greedy, lazy, money-draining public servants that do nothing. I invite you to come […]

If your swamped with your own teaching responsibilities, you might not have followed some of the news — for example the latest chapter in how teacher voice has made a difference in New York, where new state tests have had a disastrous roll-out. First, check out some of the thousand responses that Lucy Calkins received […]

Lots of people saying it right now. Here’s blogger Beth Shaum saying it cogently in a post on her site, Use Your Outside Voice.  Happily, she includes a brief portrait of an outstanding classroom for adults. Then there are a string of comments responding to the blog post, “Why Teachers Should Educate the Public About […]

I’ve posted a lovely piece by special education teacher Catherine Clarke, a teacher who found a way to reach a struggling student when it seemed impossible. Instead of simply punishing negative behavior, she found a way to resolve it. Please read it on the Evanston website of Patch.com . Let’s celebrate wonderful tales like this, […]