I like school teachers. I appreciate what teachers tend to contribute in making student communities more vital and engaged. Quality educators are a treasure, the catalyst for curiosity and a generous knowledge conduit. Civility and professional commitment are their personal bywords. Great teaching even welcomes its eccentrics that leaven the educational bread, the inspired oddball that shows the young there is more than one way to do something well.… [Read more]
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers strike is nationwide news.
My best friend since middle school is one of those thousands of red T-shirted teachers on the picket line. She does not want to be there. She wants to be in her fourth grade classroom. She met her students and then the following week was called to strike.… [Read more]
In a massive strike to protest untenable work conditions, job cuts and wages hundreds, thousands of employees abandon their post in _______ (a) England, (b) the U.S., (c) Israel or (d) Greece? What is the correct answer, a, b, c or d? Or is it all of the above? The unfortunate reality — we could add an e, f, g and h and the answer would still be the same — all of the above.… [Read more]
I really hate to second-hand my information, but sometimes that’s what it comes down to. When I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what to write about each week, and I’ve started to exhaust personal experiences that would be relevant, I have to resort to hitting the search engine. It feels like a cop-out to write about what’s already been written, to just filter other peoples’ research through my vocabulary, but it’s also an exercise in accepting my limitations.… [Read more]
