For the National Writing Project web-based radio program on Thurs. Mar. 14 I had the privilege to preview my Writing Project Urban Sites conference talk. It essentially outlines the position taken by this website, that teachers need to tell their stories to the public. My 15 minutes comes at the end of the one-hour program. […]

Hooray! I now have two outstanding stories by teachers ready to go public, and I’m sending them off to a newspaper editor today. And a third is in the hopper, being written as we speak. I’ll report on our progress as we go. Wish us luck. Also a question: has anyone organized or attended a […]

Teachers, readers, visitors — Diane Ravitch has formed a new education advocacy group called the Network for Public Education. The group and its members will speak out for more thoughtful policies to improve schools, and against the increasing tide of narrow standardized testing, closing of schools, and the moving of funds away from public schools. […]

This teacher shows a wider world the look of meaningful learning — he wrote a couple of weeks ago, but it’s still important to see his story. Ray Salazar, a Chicago high school teacher wrote to the CNN “Schools of Thought” blog about exploring the topic of gun violence with his students, who experience it […]

More budget cuts coming, school closings in Chicago, teachers recounting to Diane Ravitch about pressures to narrow the curriculum and neglect kids’ real needs. So it becomes still more important to tell the stories of what great teaching can do — both to stress to the public the nature and value of meaningful education, and […]

Megan Allen is an articulate teacher who paints the picture for Congress, to show what support for education means for a struggling student. Watch here to see a clip on YouTube as she brings education alive vividly, to let Representatives know what vital effects it has on children’s lives, and what would be lost if […]

Sam Chaltain, a passionate advocate for public, democratic education explains in a handy Education Week blog post how to write a good story about teaching. As he points out, what helps people most to understand our work is the immediate on-the-scene picture of what great teaching and learning look like and sound like. He calls […]

It’s great when a fellow teacher sees power in public communication. Here’s Janet Ilko’s comment on our latest post about her journey: Thanks for sharing my blogpost. I have been blogging for about 2 years now, at www.writinginmyhand.org, about my classroom and working with students. I ran across your site a few months ago, and […]

Teachers are busier and more overwhelmed than ever, with larger class sizes, more planning for new mandates, standards, and performance evaluations. Yet it’s more important than ever for us to speak out to the public and explain just what we do for kids every day, so we gain support rather than still more of such […]

It’s a long weekend, with many readers no doubt away from their computer screens — but I can’t resist sharing the latest installment of the Janet Ilko teacher story saga. As she explains on the NWP Connect website, the moment she returned from the Digital Learning Day in DC, Janet’s school administration valuing a positive […]