GUEST POST - A friend and a recently retired teacher Marla Phan shares her insights. While I left education of my own volition, I want to share why I would have stayed. Keeping my mouth shut about what I saw happening around me, things that were detrimental to actual teaching and learning, were contributors to … Continue reading “I Would’ve Stayed Longer” ~ Guest Post
"There is a widely held belief ... that if we start teaching children to read, write, and spell in preschool and kindergarten that they will be ahead of the game ... that pushing our kids to start early will make them better and give them the edge. But it doesn’t work that way, in fact it … Continue reading Education’s Learned Idiots
Kidhood should happen when you turn nine … maybe ten. And last until the day you turn fourteen. Then it’s over. Done. That’s when everything you’ve learned starts to count. For real. Tommy Scott taught me to follow directions … by diagramming touch-football plays on my bony chest … with his stiff index-finger. The McCann … Continue reading Kidhood
"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do." -B. F. Skinner It was just a matter of time. And time’s up. And to think how many Sunday afternoons I sacrificed reading and rating essays. All those margin scribbles ... and all those chin-up, keep-the-faith notes of encouragement. Had I taught in this moment … Continue reading Robo-Education
Someone's gotta lean on the horn. That child's story has the worriment of a damaged adult on the edge. But she's perhaps a hundred months old. She's an Xbox junkie ... a "gamer" ... found sitting "in a puddle of her own urine ... so hooked ... she wouldn’t even go to the toilet ..." When her father threatened to … Continue reading Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma
How much does misery cost? "About another $12.1 billion over the next few years. Nationally exceeding $80 Billion since 2010." That should be some first-class misery. And it’s on you. Your treat! Enjoy! The vulture capitalists can smell your misery from miles away … and they’re so ready to pick your wallets clean. Big … Continue reading The High Cost of Common Core Misery
In a very short while … for as far as the eye can see … will stand drive-thru learning centers offering kiosk-educations from a B. F. Skinner touch-screen that will supply the finger-pointer with all they need to succeed in a life of rich monotony. Youngsters will be endlessly nudged in this or that career pathway … Continue reading Because We Listened to a Guy Named Dave
“I had my son at 40 … so I am old enough to remember the way things were.” Pamela Settle Didn't matter. You were totally unprepared for social and emotional learning, closed reading, frustrating math, social justice curricula, computerized assessments, and college and career ready education. And... of course ... academic kindergarten. This is the … Continue reading Rushing Them and Crushing Them – Church of Reformed Education
This moment of pedagogical abuse sits at the feet of mothers and fathers across America. There is now enough reform history that cannot be denied. If this comes to pass, parents own the moment. This is what happens when parents become self-absorbed, uncurious, and lazy. When they are so full-up in their own moments that they … Continue reading Baby PISA
“Our entire universe is probably in a tiny glass jar somewhere, placed on a shelf in some alien child’s room as a science fair project that got a C minus …” Leave it up to a meme … the new technological bumper-sticker … to tutor us about our probable insignificance and immaturity. It’s smart to … Continue reading Technological Opium Dens
Missives Worth Reading 