After a long day of public testimony and word-smithing, the SBOE voted 10-7 last Wednesday (10/13) to rescind its July 2020 Resolution to Condemn Hate and Racism. I was a no vote. In my time on the board, I have heard many complaints lobbed about around the Equity Resolution, not the least of which include … Continue reading
Thinking Ahead to Future Graduates: Guest Column
Link to Medina Post 3/19: The General Assembly pulled through this week in approving HB67, offering necessary flexibility for class of 2021 graduating seniors. The State Board of Education last week approved my proposed resolution highlighting the urgency of this issue and suggesting the use of Ohio Means Jobs as an alternative requirement. We need … Continue reading
LTE: Medina Post 3/14/21
To the Editor: I was deeply disturbed by recent guest columns regarding school choice and the misleading poll question published by the post. Shame on the Post for encouraging one-sided, inflammatory, public school discourse through articles by Navarette Jr and Bednarski. Both articles recognized extreme circumstances of the Coronavirus, but both articles then use the … Continue reading
Thinking: Teachers as Coaches and Leaders
It has been quiet around here; I have been quiet for awhile. I’m still working on switching gears to spend more time with my family while maintaining my identity as an educator and researcher. I feel my interests and priorities still shifting, though, away from so much connectedness (to Twitter, blogging, Facebook, etc.) and towards … Continue reading
Professional Development That Doesn’t Suck
You know what I hate more than failing charter school parasites sucking funding from public schools? (Man, that was quite the overgeneralization!) Professional development that sucks. Let me qualify what I mean when I say sucky PD: It’s disconnected. Fall “training” doesn’t flow with Winter “training” which then has nothing to do with Spring “training”. … Continue reading
Checking In! Re-Reading in Math and Comprehension Connections
It’s been awhile! Scrolling through my Facebook feed this morning (which has now become my primary access to the outside world), I stumbled across something I just HAD to share (driving myself back to the blog): At our district, we spend a lot of time in the early grades talking about re-reading as a comprehension … Continue reading
Another Quality Book: Leadership on the Line–Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading
One thing I’ve latched on to tremendously in my doctoral work is the idea of separating who I am as a person (the self) from who I am as a leader (the role). In the past, I think I have constantly defined myself by my job(s). When someone would ask me to tell them about … Continue reading
A Quality Read: How Children Succeed
Now that I have two kids in the early grades of kindergarten and first, I’m beginning to think more about education in regards to my children–something that has a direct impact on who my own kids are becoming, their futures. I mean, I’ve always thought about these things, but I’m even more aware of them now … Continue reading
Beyond Data: How pride in local sports should be all-around pride in local schools.
I love fall. It’s my favorite season. I have totes and totes full of fall decorations, and each year I feel like I put them out earlier and earlier–it’s a challenge for me to make it to September 1 anymore. In fact, I’m usually ready for August 1, but fight myself and hold back until … Continue reading
The Times They Are A Changin’: Starting Anew
It’s mid-way through July, and you know what that means….!!! It means I can’t stop reading education news! Every year at about this time, I get the itch to be back at work. This is precisely the reason why every year, I tend to take a ton of summer classes to fill my time–if I’m … Continue reading
Turn On Your Brain 