tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882184034075101362012-01-28T09:41:31.702-05:00I first started walking to and from school daily in 1960 - and continued - rain, snow, sun, and wind - until boarding a bus in 1968 to join the other fossil-fuel dependent legions in Junior High School. This year I picked up where I left off. Packing a lunch, carrying books, and walking to and from the neighborhood high school. What musings occur when one rejoins the peripatetic lifestyle?Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.comBlogger1171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-10943380979190228392012-01-22T12:28:00.002-05:002012-01-22T12:45:13.640-05:00

Teaching is the absolute best way to learn something really, really well.  Especially if you teach a topic repeatedly to audiences of different sorts of learners.  This is why collaboration, think-pair-share, and any of those other gee-whiz strategies work so well. They move students into the role of teacher.  You can't explain something very well, and in varying ways, if you don't understand it.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-33357953228715643362012-01-04T08:51:00.000-05:002012-01-04T16:53:21.647-05:00

Today is an unexpected snow day-- a hole in my professional life I will fill in speaking frankly about teaching. But first, a story: My daughter is a Veterinarian.  I am extremely proud of her accomplishments in this field because I know of the dedication and hard work she put in to achieve her dream of working with animals.  I know where the dream began: pony club.  She started riding horses

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-76974368451935090502011-12-30T18:44:00.000-05:002012-01-04T16:57:30.724-05:00

I have a New Year's Resolution for you:  Man-up. That's what my students would say.  That's much of what your membership seems to be saying. And that's what I implore you to do. I have been a teacher since 1978 and an NEA member for almost as long.  But the fact of the matter is that, as I improved in my abilities to teach through an association with other professional organizations (the

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-2000624250703254182011-12-26T15:17:00.000-05:002011-12-26T15:18:20.281-05:00

Today is the traditional British holiday reserved after Christmas to celebrate the servants--those stalwart workers who keep the manor house running, make the holiday go smoothly, and generally make life much more enjoyable for the upper classes. The "box" in Boxing Day refers to the the vehicle for enclosing the gift for the servants (and not for the fisticuffs I imagined when I first heard the

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-52837804837539879582011-12-08T20:35:00.001-05:002011-12-10T11:31:24.931-05:00

Today the NEA released the report of the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching and the NEA responsed to the recommendations of the 21 teachers from across the nation.  I was privileged to be one of those 21 teachers appointed to the Commission for the past year.  We first convened on December 10, 2010 and our charge was to define effective teaching and imagine a teacher-led profession

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-78307104839972048502011-12-04T10:53:00.001-05:002011-12-04T11:44:57.359-05:00

Yesterday, flipping channels to see if there was a Virginia Tech game on I could listen to as I baked, I happened on the halftime of the SEC championship game. (You can tell I am a tepid football fan.  There was a Tech game, but I missed it.) They were just about to begin the huge halftime event: a Dr. Pepper Tuition Scholarship contest.  At stake? $100,000 in tuition money.  Apparently they do

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-24707547991584255402011-11-27T10:37:00.001-05:002011-11-27T12:08:30.388-05:00

I was a stay-at-home mom for twelve years and still consider myself lucky to have had the time for this important work, especially when so many must work full-time and raise children simultaneously in order to afford a house, food, etc.  Raising children is hard work.  The need for consistency is what wears most parents out since children are always testing the fence line. I still consider my

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-25746606657278313102011-11-20T10:09:00.001-05:002011-11-20T13:27:55.952-05:00

This week Jay Matthews of the Washington Post drew attention to the problem of teaching writing in our public schools. It's awful.  That's the consensus. His argument was sparked by a commentary earlier in the week by Paula Stacy in Education Week where she bemoans the lifeless writing products which pass for good thinking when students arrive in colleges and universities. She's right, you

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-86411129301017067072011-10-29T18:20:00.000-04:002011-11-12T10:25:04.412-05:00

I have learned that the swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot.  Henry David Thoreau  I walk to school.  Not every day, but most.  I drive only when an appointment after school means being somewhere at a distance in a big hurry.  Rain, snow, mud, they do not dissuade.  Thirty-five years ago, when I began to jog for exercise, I learned to appreciate changing weather.  Forging ahead is

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-92222496169414960982011-10-23T16:06:00.000-04:002011-10-23T16:15:48.823-04:00

Tom Harkin recently proposed a bill to rewrite the ESEA legislation, publicly known as No Child Left Behind.  This week it came out of committee with significant compromises. Thank goodness. The original bill, in my opinion, was an effort by Harkin to legitimize the power grab by the education arm of the Obama administration. (Here's where things get confusing for me.  I am a staunch Democrat

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-78815067211168337082011-10-16T12:40:00.001-04:002011-10-16T20:51:55.459-04:00

This week the New York Times published a story that Pearson's Non-Profit organization is running afoul of the Internal Revenue Service by providing junkets to top state education officials who Pearson also--coincidentally--works closely with in business relationships. Though the state officials emphasize that the trips are educational--talking to other educators in countries such as Rio de

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-54936232817029308182011-10-09T11:13:00.001-04:002011-10-09T11:20:26.476-04:00

Below are the remarks I was privileged to share before a full room on the VCU campus in Richmond on Saturday, October 1. The topic was "Merit Pay and Teacher Evaluation."   The panel discussion was hosted by the Richmond Teachers for Social Justice, South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education, and the Student Virginia Education

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-14258541521442008392011-10-02T12:10:00.000-04:002011-11-22T19:33:36.972-05:00

What happens when you give students the opportunity to choose a direction for their own reading and writing? Amazing things, apparently. My students are currently involved in their own reading during Reading Workshop in Academic English 11 (most would call this General English).  The class of 26 students is a mix of abilities.  Though there are many who are performing at the post high

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-62648305538093865272011-09-11T18:13:00.000-04:002011-11-22T19:32:43.092-05:00

Lately I've been making a mental list of the number of variables that are out of my control when it comes to creating a learning environment for my students. Next year the state of Virginia will base forty percent of a teacher's evaluation on measures of student growth.  Though it is not clear yet what those measures will be, the state board of education has already said that 20% of the student

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-16496729848717586112011-08-28T19:13:00.001-04:002011-08-28T19:15:02.170-04:00

literally. On the long drive back from the beach this month, I played Life on the cellphone app my daughter handed to me. "It's fun.  Try it." It had been a good 20 years since I played the face-to-face board game when the kids were young. Back then the term "face-to-face" didn't even delineate a choice.  All games were played face-to-face, even the ubiquitous video games.  (My marker for the

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-81024029014211560302011-08-21T09:13:00.005-04:002011-08-21T09:38:05.709-04:00

Our district is still in our pre-school week, and for the first time in my professional career we have received an unusual message from our superiors: Please Speak Up.  Specifically about all the good that public educators do for the community. Historically teachers are reluctant to speak publicly about education issues, especially local issues.  We fear retribution and are also, and rightly so,

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-55800430841619603262011-08-15T12:20:00.005-04:002011-11-22T19:28:35.004-05:00

Teach for America (TFA) sounded like a good idea the first time I heard about it.  Get the best and brightest into hard-to-staff classrooms and hope their experiences stick and then "the best" will make a career out of helping our neediest children. It is appealing in the same way the selfless programs of the "Peace Corps" and "Americorps" from the Kennedy era of asking what can we do for our

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-1085437007422940762011-08-04T16:25:00.004-04:002011-08-04T16:56:27.713-04:00

Videos are surfacing from the SOS March of interviews with Matt Damon as he awaited his opportunity to speak at the rally held July 30 on the ellipse in humid, 100 degree weather. Damon is impressive.  Apparently he has been paying close attention to the issue, no doubt in part because his mother is a successful professor of Early Childhood Education.  Regardless, he calls the current reform "

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-18346972888595993132011-07-31T11:28:00.002-04:002011-07-31T11:36:06.084-04:00

I did not cry during Matt Damon's impassioned speech to the teachers just before we stepped off for the march around the White House, although it was touching to see a son speak on behalf of his mother and the teachers who shaped him. But it was overwhelming to hear, after a year of relentless teacher bashing in the media, that "millions of people have your back" and "We love you.  We support

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-51506283210641061432011-07-24T16:08:00.004-04:002011-07-24T16:19:19.537-04:00

Lately we've been getting a modern-day equivalent of the Horatio Alger myth in public discourse: if we all just worked a little harder, a little longer, we'd be successful.  It's the "pull yourself up by your bootstrap" view of the world.  In schools this has been ratcheted up.   The honors student is well aware of how many items must be on the resume (volunteer work, club presidencies,

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-31603180540146918942011-07-22T17:05:00.001-04:002012-01-07T15:17:33.735-05:00

This is so important, I will let it stand alone. Julie Underwood is the Dean of Education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council and is the driving force behind the massive attacks on collective bargaining, public schools, access to voting, and other initiatives happening concurrently nationwide. For access to the legislation the group has

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-58560035688758116492011-07-17T11:39:00.004-04:002011-07-18T20:41:50.855-04:00

Today's editorial in The New York Times, "Are They Learning?," comments on the cheating scandal in Atlanta. It is the most disappointing commentary I've read in some time. It is disappointing because of the simplistic, wrong-headed conclusion the editors express. It proves just how little the pundits are paying attention to what has been going on in our public schools. And if they aren't paying

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-90346505474879327702011-07-08T11:29:00.005-04:002011-07-10T18:46:09.320-04:00

I was born and raised in Washington, DC. In the summer the humidity settles down and the sky turns a sick, pale shade of yellow.  The swamp the city was built on seems to rise up and sit in the air just above the traffic lights. When I was kid, before the miracle of air-conditioning, we mimicked the dogs that lay panting in the dust under the shade of a tree on the hottest afternoons.  Laying

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-12515554729606311042011-07-08T10:30:00.001-04:002011-07-08T10:32:45.950-04:00

The fellows of the Northern Virginia Writing Project have begun their intensive work in the Summer Institute.  As a leader of the Shenandoah Valley Satellite site I am steeped in the work of practicing teachers.  It is intensive, rejuvenating, enlightening and exhausting work as we teach each other, share theory, and write for ourselves. The four or five weeks spent by the teachers transforms

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-90672851472324776612011-06-25T15:28:00.002-04:002011-06-29T17:55:42.698-04:00

This year marks the 37th end-of-school ritual that I have personally participated in.  That includes 17 ends to my own years of formal education.  (It does not include the twelve years where I experienced the end of school as a stay-at-home mom.) There is nothing like this ending in the "real" world.  Most adults' work never ends.  It only has occasional hiccups where there is some respite from

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-36004648053638102962011-05-31T20:03:00.002-04:002011-05-31T20:09:29.295-04:00

How I wish I were Joel Klein.  Then perhaps I would get 30 inches in The Atlantic.  Alas, just a classroom teacher. Like others of his ilk, Klein comes from a business world and sees the situation only through that lens.  Money into education should equal success.  If there hasn't been success then it must be because those recalcitrant teachers have been undermining reform on every front.  If

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-49372367388967683572011-05-11T06:44:00.000-04:002011-05-11T06:44:22.096-04:00

The Onion has stolen my idea: announce what we wish would happen in education as a fait de compli. Of course, this is a joke because doing the right thing is rarely possible any more. Sigh. Read it and weep.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-85050612407847312032011-05-08T12:41:00.002-04:002011-05-08T12:46:38.853-04:00

That's mom on the right.  She taught third grade for seventeen years.  My grandmother, on the left, was a kindergarten teacher.  Ed Policy of the time meant Grammy had to stop work when she married.  Mom had to leave her first teaching job when she became pregnant with my older brother in 1950.  She only returned to the classroom after getting five children launched in school. That was 1970 and

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-29153431521073347292011-04-24T12:36:00.002-04:002011-04-24T12:58:10.271-04:00

I've read The Handmaid's Tale. Maybe that's my problem--an English teacher who's thought too much about how language is manipulated in 1984 or how women were stripped of their power in the 1985 dystopian novel.  In one day of coordinated mass firings, coinciding with ATM cards that suddenly showed a zero balance, Margaret Atwood's women lost all of their freedoms.  (ATM cards did not even exist

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-9824261308687921752011-04-21T16:39:00.000-04:002011-04-21T16:39:38.417-04:00

In case you thought my last blog was overkill: In North Carolina, for example, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools this spring field tested 52 (yes 52) new standardized tests, including four exams each for kindergartners and first-graders, and kids lost as much as a week of instruction. That won’t stop the district from adding even more tests next year, for art, music and physical education, and

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-77609540834820207872011-04-17T12:43:00.004-04:002011-04-17T13:05:38.551-04:00

Virginia has recently passed a new expectation for Teacher Evaluations. Normally we are assessed in six areas. The new ruling adds a seventh area of evaluation: Student Growth. Though it is the seventh category, a full forty percent of our evaluations are now dependent on evidence of Student Growth.  Twenty percent of the evaluation must be tied to the student's SOL scores.  The other twenty

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-55337189498680792402011-03-22T21:42:00.003-04:002011-03-22T21:51:18.052-04:00

I have been a teacher, and a union (in Virginia, an association--we are a right to work state) member since 1978.  And I have stayed a member for a number of reasons. The first reason: Everything that happens in my state house that concerns education concerns me.  (Look to Wisconsin for verification.)  And I do not have the time to read the bills that affect how my time in the classroom is spent.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-10814661592218047152011-03-09T20:49:00.004-05:002011-03-11T20:11:10.832-05:00

Tonight was Parent Conference night and my room was full.  My juniors and seniors lead their parent conferences, explaining goals, sharing work, describing their scores.  They introduced their parent to me, offered refreshments, and then lead them to a private corner where they could describe their work and their personal goals for the course.  The parents love the opportunity to hear about

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-84823136568057804702011-03-06T10:40:00.002-05:002011-03-06T14:44:56.951-05:00

The school system in America is a swiss-cheese model.  For areas of high-poverty there are gaping holes in both physical and human resources.  The reasons for this are myriad, but a large part is due to the pervasive (though not exclusive) model of basing school funding on property taxes. So, just thinking out loud, here's an idea that came to me on a walk: What if the 'hardware' of schools

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-89601701532495500452011-02-27T20:12:00.000-05:002011-02-27T20:12:03.238-05:00

Nearly 2,000 teachers in Providence, Rhode Island.  If all are fired, then the cheapest [least experienced] can be hired back. See previous post. There will be two school systems.  A privately held one for the haves.  An under-resourced and weakly staffed system for the have-nots.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-30671690265992668282011-02-20T17:33:00.003-05:002011-02-20T17:57:30.190-05:00

It is hard to miss what is going on in Wisconsin: a governor using the fiscal crisis (which, in his case, is a bit ginned up) to undo decades of work to improve the lives of employees through collective bargaining. Though the unions are the corporatists' chief antagonist, that's not the real target. Reducing government by shuttering public schools and handing education over for privatization is

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-55500286355915081642011-01-27T10:09:00.003-05:002011-01-27T10:24:52.126-05:00

We have just finished the End of Course SOL series for our 11th grade students.  The barrier test for graduation lies in the English SOLs.  All students must pass both the Writing and Reading tests prior to graduating or they will not receive a valid diploma.  The two tests represent a minimum competency. Basic literacy is the most important outcome for any education.  All graduates should be

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-84927452099685634692011-01-16T11:17:00.004-05:002011-01-16T11:30:19.100-05:00

Though I hate to add to his growing notoriety, I cannot help but read all of the articles detailing the history of Jared Lee Loughner, the shooter at the Tucson, Arizona public meeting of representative Gabby Giffords. I have similarly read the accounts of events leading up to other massacres like the Virginia Tech shootings and Columbine.  My interest is professional.  My questions to myself are

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-62884450263023223662011-01-02T14:03:00.002-05:002011-01-02T14:05:39.704-05:00

Blogging and reading blogs forms an echo-chamber.  Those who visit blogs are generally like-minded, nodding our heads as we read about things we already believe or know to be true. The power of a blog is in disseminating information and understanding to those who do NOT read.  In other words, talk to those who disagree or who are uniformed. So I offer this, some factual information to pass along

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-4396734213727177562010-12-30T10:38:00.003-05:002010-12-31T15:41:44.765-05:00

Ok.  I haven't finished the book, but I have read enough to reflect on America's role as "Leader of the Free World."  This rhetoric is the pablum of my formative years in the Sputnik generation. We were charged with learning so we could assume a role as the forward-looking leader of a brave new world and leverage human inventiveness to change the world for the better.  (I remember Mrs. Mize's

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-57176890980315056702010-12-21T20:18:00.001-05:002010-12-26T20:07:18.399-05:00

Here's a daydream: We call a press conference and announce to the public that, starting tomorrow, all children in the United States will begin attending clean, fully staffed, and well-equipped schools where healthy meals will be served to all for both breakfast and lunch (at a table, in a dining hall, with time devoted to enjoyment and conversation--a lesson in living a civilized life.) All

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-64471991314817421172010-11-27T10:20:00.000-05:002010-11-27T10:20:15.839-05:00

The Annual meetings of the NCTE and NWP (National Council of Teachers of English and National Writing Project) were held last weekend at Disney World in Orlando. Every year I wonder at the numbers who flock to these meetings and, as I pack my bags, why we must gather face to face in this age of web 2.0 forums and other platforms for connectivity. And then I go and am reminded. Like any profession

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-51689215757769038322010-10-31T13:27:00.001-04:002010-10-31T13:34:28.662-04:00

A good friend and colleague recently, and unexpectedly, lost her husband.  Though the event was a shock that has undoubtedly already sent tremors throughout her life (their marriage stretched from college to grand parenting), at the viewing she was the same compassionate, steadfast person I admire and respect as a model educator. She’s tough, but not in a let-me-get-my-gun kind of way.  She’s

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-11137913775254544072010-10-19T21:14:00.000-04:002010-10-19T21:14:39.220-04:00

Michelle Rhee's resignation sparked comment on the AP listserve I belong to.  I'm told there are 6,000 of us on the list. One teacher objected to the tone of the comments about the resignation. I responded and that has prompted an extended conversation.  An important one I think for several reasons. First, that the group is quite impassioned. Second, that the argument that some teachers are bad

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-20477939706914596272010-10-17T14:31:00.003-04:002010-10-17T14:51:12.429-04:00

My letter came yesterday, opened and left on the counter in the midst of a pre-wedding flurry for my daughter's best friend, a much more important moment for us. My NBCT status is assured until 2021. I doubt if I'll still be in the classroom by then. Sometimes I wonder if there will even be a classroom to be in by 2021. (Lot's of reasons for thinking that. This medium being just one of those.)

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-25631277143326143422010-10-10T21:31:00.002-04:002010-10-10T22:06:50.471-04:00

Two opinion pieces in today’s Washington Post Outlook offer solutions to the current “teacher problem” in the United States.  (Still more supplied by those who aren’t teachers, but who continue to extend and control the current discussion prompted by the media blitz set in motion by Waiting for Superman.) One goes too far and the other, not far enough.Too Far: A “Manifesto” signed by Joel Klein,

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-70557695718933381612010-09-27T19:19:00.001-04:002010-09-27T19:23:33.200-04:00

Gosh darn it those teachers are cute!  Just look at them lining up at the microphone for a chance to speak. Golly, we could be here all week if we gave all these teachers the chance explain their work to the rest of the nation. Hey.....there's an idea.  How about an Education Nation that features educators? Clearly they can hold their own on national television.  And just as Brian Williams said (

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-26974456049100068702010-09-26T12:01:00.001-04:002010-09-27T18:52:18.179-04:00

I should be grading papers at this very moment but I can't stay away from the train wreck that is about to occur in the national media.  It's called Education Nation and has been ginned up for more eyeballs on the screen.  There will be a week long festival of Bashing Teachers, always good for ratings. It has already begun. As I scour my links where teachers are expressing their frustration at

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-74242121697028387792010-09-24T20:45:00.001-04:002010-09-24T20:48:04.379-04:00

NBC has promised a week long focus on Education.  Everyone will be there except the teachers.  Join us for a real Teacher Town Hall by joining the Teachers Letters to Obama Round table on Tuesday, September 28 to Stop Griping and Start Organizing.  We are about to be overrun by the media circus which is ignoring facts and going with the current narrative to dismiss teachers and put corporate

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-87154434155709841312010-09-13T21:37:00.000-04:002010-09-13T21:37:11.208-04:00

Wish I had more time to write.  But if I did, I'd just do pretty badly what Alfie Kohn has already done quite clearly.  Check it out. If you don't want to be left out of the discussions, be sure to sign on to the Teacher Town Hall at NBCs Education Nation.  Currently, this media event is catering to the large money stakeholders and have largely left teachers out of the reform discussion.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-66672087706575365162010-09-06T10:44:00.000-04:002010-09-06T10:44:56.013-04:00

Occasionally, because I live in a community that continues to support public schools with public funds and other outward signs that education is still central to building our community (like renovating schools and building new ones), I think that perhaps I over-inflate what I see as an attack on public education in this country. And then I am brought to my senses by others in the field who are

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-58033537155066786312010-08-22T22:00:00.000-04:002010-08-22T22:00:21.556-04:00

Sheridan Blau's The Literature Workshop has been sitting on my shelf for several years.  Two weeks ago I toted it along on a driving vacation. This was definitely not a beach book. Anyone who considers teaching as a profession for lightweights will be disabused of that after a read through Blau's carefully crafted and supported pedagogy for lifting students' reading, writing, and thinking skills

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-90225294656653088902010-08-14T13:20:00.003-04:002010-08-14T13:28:30.478-04:00

School begins next week for teachers. Well, for me, anyway.I've had a nice break. Two long out-of-town vacations and time for a four-week, intensive workshop with teachers. Lots of time off.Yesterday it felt like it was way too much time off, especially when I ran into a student and asked him what he was reading."Nothin'. I don't read."The agrarian calendar has outlived its usefulness. It

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-4594340723978233132010-07-26T20:05:00.003-04:002010-07-26T20:31:14.872-04:00

Is it just me or does today's news just look like more of the same wide divisions between the haves and the have-nots? It was announced today that BP executive Tony Hayward will be asked to step down for the gaffs in handling the oil spill in the Gulf. I will be waiting to see what his severance package looks like. My guess is it will just provide Hayward with more free time and plenty of

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-91170624274694005482010-07-17T09:57:00.002-04:002010-07-18T14:19:07.374-04:00

A debate is now on going about Teach for America in the New York Times. Stroll on by and see how this is shaping up.Two programs are currently in widespread use that encourage people to join the teaching profession. Both seem noble and worthwhile on the surface but send worrisome messages when looked at in 3-D and surround sound.They are Career Switcher programs and Teach for America.First off,

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-72785334549527733402010-06-30T13:17:00.002-04:002010-06-30T13:19:48.700-04:00

The Teachers Letters to Obama would like to encourage you to get your voice heard about the reauthorization of ESEA (No Child Left Behind). The time is NOW. Congress is considering the reauthorization as we speak. Please read the joint statement of the group and then pass it on - to your congressman, to your colleagues. Sign the petition. And then choose any of the bullet points to write

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-43323692287131792312010-06-13T17:21:00.005-04:002010-06-21T08:46:15.983-04:00

Few occupations are like teaching. At some point, the work that we do just stops. It is a pleasant experience that other adults likely envy, their work continuing on unabated--only slowing to fit into vacation time, rising and falling in intensity with the seasons of the marketplace or other cyclical demands.We are at the stopping point now and have shifted into the last ritual of teaching --

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-7501243116121002992010-06-05T11:27:00.010-04:002010-06-05T13:01:36.203-04:00

David Brooks' recent Op-Ed Race to Sanity underscores again his enthusiastic support of using the models of big business to reform our public schools. As a former Wall Street Journal opinion writer, it isn't surprising to find him aligning himself with the only paradigm he can wrap his head around: Competition Makes Everything Better.But competition really only makes things better for those who

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-56386042948346455992010-06-01T07:11:00.004-04:002010-06-13T17:11:28.783-04:00

Sometimes you just have to pay attention to your gut. When you think you have been played, maybe you have.Read this compilation of moves by Arne Duncan and the DOE to avoid actual listening and learning while he is on his Listening and Learning Tour.The "conversation" described by Stephen Krashen and the NCTE could have been the exact same one I joined through NBPTS for NBCTs interested in

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-46577891608906334652010-05-29T09:14:00.008-04:002010-06-13T17:21:19.157-04:00

Friday, before the memorial weekend holiday, my students posted their "Footprints" outside our room. My co-teacher had taught the poem "Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and invited them to write for a few minutes about what they hoped they would be leaving behind as their own "footprint in the sands of time." Then he read their visions aloud, without naming names, to the entire group.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-57182888840380983582010-05-27T07:09:00.003-04:002010-05-27T07:44:02.927-04:00

Following our truncated, technology-challenged call on Monday, the phone rang in California and Kansas on Tuesday afternoon. At the other end of the line was Arne Duncan.Anthony Cody in California and Marsha Ratzel in Kansas were receiving a follow up from Duncan. He wanted to hear what they didn't have the opportunity to say. Marsha had just finished an intense day in front of sixth graders

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-71908310840974576952010-05-24T18:26:00.009-04:002010-05-27T07:37:39.935-04:00

It was over too fast. No, it really was. Over. Too. fast.Nine teachers of the original twelve were able to make it in on the phone dialogue with Arne Duncan at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. Well, actually it was 5:34, but who's counting?We were. We each had about two minutes of suggestions for the Blueprint.As it turned out only four of us were able to speak.First we had a little semantic issue. We

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-6938069250697093312010-05-22T11:38:00.006-04:002010-05-22T12:12:50.917-04:00

..a crack. My good friend and colleague Anthony Cody, from California where the teacher fires for education reform are burning brightly, has used social networking to garner a voice for teachers in the restructuring of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.Duncan has agreed to listen to the Teacher Letters to Obama group. If you haven't joined this group and you care about education, you

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-65174886667287285782010-05-09T15:48:00.005-04:002010-05-09T16:02:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday I have the opportunity to testify before the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies of the House Appropriations Committee. (How would you like having to write that every time you tell somebody where you work?)My testimony will relate the impact of the National Writing Project on my work as a classroom teacher. Arne Duncan's

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-1302045617918950402010-04-24T09:34:00.001-04:002010-04-24T09:36:27.851-04:00

Finished up the National Boards and put 'em in the mail two weeks ago.I first certified in 2001 and it was time to renew. Eight years in, you can re-up if you don't mind paying the $1000 renewal fee.Looking back over eight years turns out to be a lot of ground to cover. Who knew?When you are in teaching it is often difficult to see the forest. There are so many trees --probably because a teaching

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-76566229560744337152010-04-10T09:49:00.007-04:002010-04-11T13:24:55.023-04:00

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is proposing to de-fund two of my favorite government programs - Reading is Fundamental and the National Writing Project. Both programs discussed in this New York Times article have been constants in my adult life. Both are examples of how a small amount of funding can energize and reform teaching, learning, and literacy by engaging volunteers and

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-85877979406167100062010-04-02T08:37:00.009-04:002010-04-02T10:15:54.512-04:00

Here's my view of an online discussion with the DOE about the Blueprint for reform. For other views by participants, scroll to the bottom.When I was in high school I received an invitation to a party as an act of charity. The invitation was extended by the daughter of my father's new boss in our new small town. "Let's invite the new girl, even though she's not really a potential new friend,

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-84629683397581299182010-03-27T12:14:00.002-04:002010-03-27T12:32:26.714-04:00

The ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) is up for reauthorization under the Obama Administration. A number of proposals are causing concern among the teachers, like the overemphasis on Charter Schools (unproven to increase achievement and a drain on public resources for all), an emphasis on teacher pay linked to student achievement (see last post about my worries on that score), and

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-17100389321244749022010-02-12T10:46:00.007-05:002010-02-12T11:19:26.120-05:00

The New York Times reports today that there is the suspicion of widespread cheating on student testing in Georgia. Looks like somebody--kids? teachers? administrators?--erased a large number of incorrect answers and replaced them with the correct answers.Further on the article it states: Principals and teachers are under intense pressure to improve scores. If schools fail under No Child Left

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-64344028301280505562010-01-30T11:25:00.003-05:002010-01-30T12:15:35.521-05:00

Culpeper Virginia has just banned the Diary of Anne Frank based on the objections of one parent. In the most recently released version of the book -- the original diaries were edited by her father -- Anne incredulously examines her own vagina and expresses some of the worries and doubts of a young girl. For that passage, the entire book was banned across the entire school system.Too bad.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-39330314893110047032009-12-31T09:44:00.009-05:002009-12-31T16:19:08.896-05:00

Education has always been considered a "soft" science. I agree, but can't bring myself to discount anecdotal findings as invalid. Critics call this aspect of education study "touchy-feely" in order to dismiss the discipline entirely.But in the past few days the unquantifiable aspect of success in classrooms keeps surfacing in my reading. This is where classroom practitioners and accountability

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-24277941597252620542009-12-28T11:04:00.004-05:002009-12-28T13:30:51.831-05:00

Not me. I never wanted to be a teacher. I don't even have one of those special teachers in my past that I strive to emulate. My mother taught. My grandmother taught. But me, I wanted to write, not teach. That confession in my first teaching-job interview changed the expression on my interviewers face from interest to: "You'll teach in my district over my dead body." Oops. (Turns out

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-56415164854496612612009-12-22T10:13:00.005-05:002009-12-22T11:02:50.062-05:00

Grasping for optimism, I began wondering a few weeks back if there is "method to this madness" as we slog through the daily delay tactics, in-fighting, and compromises of the nation's first National Health plan. It's been a long haul since this battle started and there is more to go, but could Obama be letting this play out on purpose? Is he that clever? Am I that desperate for change that I

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-39612897274420841242009-12-06T11:10:00.003-05:002009-12-06T11:58:04.903-05:00

My good TLN friend Ariel Sacks sent along this link to Bob Herbert's op-ed piece in the New York Times. Herbert is concerned about reforming our education system. He's written on this before so I know it's at the top of his list.He's right. We need to solve the problem of what is wrong with schooling. Especially when we are looking at high drop out rates. (Wake up people! We can't toss our

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-46212953615030010692009-11-28T16:49:00.003-05:002009-11-28T17:11:26.116-05:00

Just finished this new title by Thomas Newkirk - in just two days. Like a long drink of water, it was just what I needed. Chapter 8 reinforced for me that I am, all the way to the bones and beyond, a teacher. Duh, you say? Well, for some of us, teaching was not a first choice. Newkirk's chapter on what teachers need confirms the deep insecurity we all live with and either learn to accept or

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-61211615625794113632009-11-27T10:38:00.004-05:002009-11-27T11:09:27.084-05:00

I've been slow to the web 2.0 world. Once I considered myself a frontiersman, but that was way back in 1982 when personal computers arrived on the scene. (Something happened along the way. Aging, I think, and a calcification of my brain....)But now that I am connected to Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. etc. via my iphone, I can see how it is changing the landscape of our minds, our social world,

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-61399077361782972212009-11-22T08:47:00.002-05:002009-11-22T09:02:28.986-05:00

This weekend I spent time with colleagues in real-world, real-time at the NWP conference with a quick sidetrip to the NCTE conference--both held in Philadelphia. I heard, via a bookseller at Heineman, that this was the highest attendance at an NCTE convention.Could it be that we are all aware that this may be the last one for awhile? He didn't see it that way, but knowing what won't be

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-28833867865730969312009-11-08T09:15:00.004-05:002009-11-08T09:33:27.299-05:00

This week I joined with fellow TLN'r Anthony Cody in sending an open letter to President Obama and Arne Duncan. Rather than reform through policymakers, we want reform through teacher voices. I post the link so any fellow teachers can join their voices with others from around the country in getting lawmakers to heed the advice of career educators. We now have the electronic tools to make the

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-19952263221282135202009-11-01T12:40:00.006-05:002009-11-01T12:58:33.667-05:00

There's an exercise I do with the kids, and some adults too, to show how humans are programmed to make connections (like metaphors, analogies). They write a random question on a card, turn the card over and pass it to a classmate. Without looking at the question, the classmate writes a statement that qualifies as an "answer." The card is then passed to a third student who must read the

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-69690106863442766802009-10-17T21:15:00.011-04:002009-10-18T11:50:51.774-04:00

Over the summer I joined the "World's Largest English Department," a social-networking Ning begun by Jim Burke, author, practicing teacher, and titular head of said English Department. I've only used the Ning sparingly, but I'm glad to have it there because I know I will turn to it often. I have a long history (if 7 years can be considered long - and I suppose in the electronic world that's

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-33540978934984018162009-10-11T12:33:00.008-04:002009-10-11T20:34:38.849-04:00

The Washington Post Sunday opinion page has Five Myths about Paying Good Teachers More. This is the second time in recent memory that the Sunday Op-Ed has featured school reform in its "5 Myths" feature. The last time was Five Myths about Education Reform back in February. This week's author is Thomas Toch, the executive director of the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-90906525157712218542009-09-29T19:10:00.007-04:002009-10-04T13:30:56.848-04:00

I downloaded a podcast of This American Life which is a.) cooland then listened to it as I ran my daily jog which is b.) double cool. Don't know why it took me so long to glom on to this. The first episode I received is titled The Giant Pool of Money, explaining the economic meltdown once again. Much of it I'd heard in general outlines: Money changers want money, little guy is played for

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-61102116015629808492009-09-27T17:47:00.003-04:002009-09-27T18:03:02.280-04:00

The Washington Post Magazine launched a new look this week and chose Michelle Rhee as the cover story for their unveiling. She probably agreed to an interview with WP to repair her own look after the disastrous Time magazine cover featuring a stern looking Rhee wielding a broom. After years of teaching The Crucible, I have a knee-jerk reaction to images of women with brooms... Ouch. Not

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-77941629289646595222009-09-15T22:12:00.002-04:002009-09-20T11:09:24.441-04:00

In the junior and senior year of high school we are awash in testing. The juniors take the whole alphabet soup: PSAT, SAT, ACT, SOL, AP etc. etc. But what is being tested? In the Washington Post last week, the Answer Sheet explored that question in regards to SAT testing. It's a pretty interesting conversation with an employee of Princeton Review, Edward Carroll, who sits for the tests

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-60683186478751753262009-09-13T11:35:00.006-04:002009-09-15T21:36:46.496-04:00

I'll admit it. I've been ignoring my blog. I have failed in my self-imposed assignment to write at least once a week. I give myself a 'F.'Here's why I've avoided the weekly summing up: It's been depressing out there in the world of political wrangling over health-care and education in the midst of a bleak economy. In health care, I want it all: public options. For personal reasons as well

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-29292477401623013242009-08-30T22:11:00.003-04:002009-08-30T22:14:57.769-04:00

Yay! The kids are back and we are off and rolling. The beginning of a school year has to be the quintessential season of hope and promise. Everybody can see that an unsullied notebook full of fresh paper is where anything can be written. Nothing gives you another clean shot at recreating yourself like the first day of school.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-46350841469561362352009-08-07T08:45:00.002-04:002009-08-07T08:46:56.916-04:00

Sometimes, with a few well chosen weapons, a teacher can be a dangerous thing.....Top Gun Writing Project Teacher...

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-77653006146477211992009-08-02T08:48:00.006-04:002009-08-11T17:52:12.484-04:00

I am at the point in my summer odyssey with this year's cohort in the Summer Institute when I, along with all the fellows of the group, must take stock of what we have accomplished this year. My focus for my current position is on the power of simplicity.With all the talk of reform roiling around in the education world, I have yet to see a program as transformative and lasting as the work done by

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-88399820031739478842009-07-18T13:24:00.002-04:002009-07-18T13:34:43.191-04:00

Oddly, I've been in the Writing Project Summer Institute and haven't had time to write....on the blog at least. We HAVE been writing, and writing, and writing. But mostly its been reflective, fictional, or deeply personal, but not on the blog.The Writing Project philosophy is that the best teachers of teachers are teachers. And that's what we're doing: teaching each other what we've learned

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-20322685534821711502009-07-05T13:37:00.008-04:002009-07-06T20:14:09.425-04:00

What are the most frequently used words in marketing? New and improved. And that's what were about to get from the The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). A new set of National Standards in English and Math, all by December.(These must really be the brightest kids in the room!)Yay. More standards.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-89747130893950840012009-06-22T09:57:00.006-04:002009-07-02T10:25:04.155-04:00

I've been out of school a week. As usual being relieved of the daily pressure to meaningfully fill three ninety-minute classes with engaging activities, read and respond to student work, contact parents, sit in on meetings, yadda-yadda-yadda has resulted in a burst of energy to get my own agenda out of the way.What agenda is that? Read ahead for the two new courses I have to teach in the fall

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-17008856384944421492009-06-14T09:06:00.004-04:002009-06-14T09:55:16.852-04:00

So everybody's up in arms about teacher evaluations - all above average it seems. Jonathan Alter says "we already knows what works" but he doesn't say much about how to get'r done (which I think is to spot fund the programs George Miller is championing - hard to tell from this editorial more bent on pointing fingers than solving problems) The New York Times says its time to Tell the Truth.Now

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-34137757457540490942009-06-08T21:19:00.002-04:002009-06-08T21:22:04.487-04:00

Even though nobody's asked, I have a opinion on how to spend the stimulus dollars some of us may never see... Here's my proposal.

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-28353911331415939302009-05-31T13:51:00.006-04:002009-06-06T10:06:49.989-04:00

People communicate primarily through metaphor because it draws attention to the patterns we see in our world.  "Hey!  This......looks/feels/smells  like...."  We can't help ourselves. We are comparison machines. I think humans learned to talk and write so they could find a way to stop pointing at everything, always yelling out to each other, "Look!  Look!"  My little granddaughter (that's her two

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-78652190654209800302009-05-31T13:28:00.005-04:002009-05-31T13:51:24.458-04:00

OK.  Like I promised.  Here's my take on the day long scoring of student portfolios.  I liked doing it because I wanted to learn the process so I'd understand it from the classroom side - especially if I were to have to collect for a portfolio myself.  (I picked up a number of time saving tips from looking at various methods.)I'm glad teachers were the scorers.  We all learned about our students

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-11543318190328801402009-05-26T19:35:00.002-04:002009-05-26T19:41:39.781-04:00

In the Ed world, May is a crazy month.  Almost as crazy as the run up to the winter holidays.  And so my weekends - writing time for me - have been crowded with other activities.One weekend - scoring portfolios.  More on that in another post.One weekend - visiting. A luncheon, a shower, a graduation party.One weekend - memorials of all sorts.And on the weekdays there are things to be tidied up

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-72289490613009597892009-05-09T16:39:00.006-04:002009-05-10T20:48:17.629-04:00

Sunday is Mother's Day.  A new group I stumbled across came via an email that turns your favorite mother into "Mom of the Year" in a CNN-style news video.  Pretty cool technology. You can make your own here and send a personalized greeting to the mom of your choice.  I sent off a bunch to my favorite moms.The video is fun and one of those times where I conclude that computers totally rock!  (The

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-40775336481263287112009-04-25T18:19:00.011-04:002009-04-26T09:49:54.601-04:00

The buzz in School Reform Redux under Arne Duncan and the Obama Administration is to hold teachers accountable for the job they do.  (Nobody else has been held accountable lately--memos change 'torture' to 'extreme measures', ponzi schemes on wall street, underhanded realtors push adjustable rate mortgages on uneducated buyers--but teachers are a special breed and should be held to a higher

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-38184608063196525192009-04-19T21:12:00.008-04:002009-04-25T18:51:15.427-04:00

Lucinda Roy has a new book out No Right to Remain Silent: The Tragedy at Virginia Tech. I remember her well. My son graduated with an English degree from Tech in 2006, the year before the tragedy. Roy was serving as the department chair and was a spirited, entertaining, and witty speaker. I liked her right off, recognizing a humanitarian who clearly loves young people.Her part in the tragedy

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88218403407510136.post-11231699082353483522009-04-11T16:40:00.005-04:002009-04-20T16:07:39.549-04:00

Brain research might just make my job obsolete. A stunning article in the New York Times reveals that scientists have been able to erase memory by the injection of a drug in lab rats. The scientist offered that this treatment would be helpful in removing debilitating traumatic memories or the influence of addiction on memory.Would be kind of a bad thing in the wrong hands......Then on the radio I

Mary Tedrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07568681356512308199noreply@blogger.com3