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Can learning be measured?


06 September 07 04:49 PM | jtspencer | 4 Comments   
Sitting in a staff meeting, I pull out the agenda and begin drawing cartoons. Instead of reading PowerPoint presentations, we work collaboratively (read "group think") on a school wide mission statement. "Make sure it is attainable, measurable and . . Read More...

Learning Is Messy


02 August 07 07:54 PM | jtspencer | 0 Comments   
As I approach the driveway, Joel stands there with a hose, spraying the grass. I expect him to drop everything and run to his daddy. Instead, he waves and smiles, then returns to his duty of running up the water bill and increase the Phoenix drought. Read More...

Is the U.S. Losing Ground in Education?


23 July 07 06:02 AM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
I flip through the newspaper and notice an article about a meeting between the CEOs and founders of huge technology firms and governors of various states. The goal was for these corporate leaders to instruct the politicians about how schools need to change. Read More...

Why I Won't Shut Up and Teach


19 July 07 04:12 PM | jtspencer | 5 Comments   
After reading a recent blog, suggesting that teachers should self-censor and stay politically inactive, I feel compelled to write this blog. Telling teachers to shut up and focus on their classrooms is like telling Martin Luther King Jr to shut up and Read More...

recovering what we lost in standardized education


15 July 07 12:15 PM | jtspencer | 0 Comments   
After taking so many theory classes this summer, I am left with a mental overload. I enjoy the dialogue and debates, yet I can't help but feel that none of the "isms" really worked for me. Constructivism was great, but often unrealistic. Behaviorism seemed Read More...

the death of why


13 July 07 08:44 PM | jtspencer | 3 Comments   
When I ask students at summer school what topic they want, I present three choices. The class overwhelmingly chooses "financial planning," which, for me, is a fun unit to teach. When I ask a student why he chose financial planning over the Holocaust, Read More...

the wizard of odd - standardized testing week


14 April 07 05:21 AM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
Students are swept up into the whirlwind of the AIMS test - a grueling twelve hour marathon where they will be transformed from students into data on pretty graphs in Excel sheets. We're not in Kansas in more. (Honestly, we never were. We live in Phoenix, Read More...

What American Idol Taught Me About Assessment


02 April 07 09:07 PM | jtspencer | 0 Comments   
It is a show which lives up to its name, embodying nearly every form of America's idolatry. Yet, we scoop it up by the handful - the thirst for fame, the worship of celebrity, the cult of stardom, the sex, the lights, the music, the commercialism and Read More...

growing up with The Simpsons


30 March 07 02:14 PM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
Growing up, the show was controversial. Parents hated it. Groups boycotted it. Kids reveled in it, because it was real. Unlike the plastic, pollyana Cosby show or the TGIF line-up, The Simpsons spoke to a generation of youth who loved the satire on childhood. Read More...

catch-22 and a staff development meeting


29 March 07 02:55 PM | jtspencer | 2 Comments   
I first read Catch 22 as a cynical high school student. Something about the wry humor, the absurdity of the system and the feeling that I was surrounded by insanity resonated well with Mountain Ridge High. I enjoyed the lively characters, though I never Read More...

are Americans smarter than the average fifth grader?


28 March 07 10:28 AM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
I rarely watch television, not so much out of moral obligation, but out of a lack of time. I find most shows to be trite and annoying. Yet, the other day, I saw a show called "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" It's an innovative idea, pitting adults Read More...

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