It can be challenging to get teacher voices into the public eye and ear. So we were especially pleased to learn how NPR in Florida is highlighting teacher perspectives in a series of reports by Miami-Dade teacher and education analyst Jeremy Glazer. His latest piece describes how a fellow teacher, now retired, recalls discovering the […]

One of the challenges to getting teachers’ voices heard by the public is finding media outlets that will support this. But there are a number of solutions to this — and we hope that learning about some of them will help teachers to begin speaking up and telling the world about our important work. Teachers […]

Now that the long July 4th holiday is over, I’m back and up to no good. I just posted a writing prompt at National Writing Project iAnthology site, inviting teachers to write about a student who changed. I hope you’ll visit the site, but if you aren’t already a member you’ll need to sign up […]

Rachel Naomi Remen, is an outstanding doctor, medical reformer, and author. This doctor offers teachers a lesson about the importance of story. She gives us this lesson in a story in the DailyGood website. “In medicine,” she explains, “is often dismissed as ‘anecdotal evidence,’ a sort of second class data.” However, stories are the engines […]

We were away for a few days, escaping from all the angst in the education world. We’ve come home to find an outstanding teacher in the news. Danielle Bero, a New York HS teacher is not only featured, but the story celebrates her strategies to engage struggling students by connecting schoolwork with their lives — […]

Not so excited about writing to describe your great work with kids? Are you more of a visual learner & communicator? Classroom or school videos can tell a powerful story as this one from Whittier Middle School in Poland Maine very nicely shows. As you’ll see if you watch the students spent 8 weeks researching […]

More and more voices are urging teachers to project their voices into the public debates on education. We hope teachers hear them and are encouraged to speak out, so permit us to connect you with several good discussions. First, I took part in a Google Hangout panel on this topic Wed. night, June 19th. You […]

I urge teachers to write about their teaching to build more support for their work, and get their stories out to the public in some way. But many ask, “What should I write about? How do I start?” Perhaps this is because so many of us have had our voices silenced, as one teacher describes […]

Dear Teachers Speak Up friends– I’ve just posted a third story from a teacher, on my Patch.com blog. Chicago teacher Robert Plonka describes the power of graphic novels vs classics in the classroom. We’re not out to denigrate the great literature of the past. But as Plonka explains so vividly, students also need to engage […]

I’ve started a new Facebook page called Teachers Speak Up on Testing. This one is designed specifically to gather teachers’ and others’ thoughts on the standardized testing that is being expanded so widely across the country. How is it working or not working in your school? What aspects of teaching and learning do the tests […]