I don't believe in the notion that the district is run by a bunch of pricks.  I don't think that they are part of a vast conspiracy to make sure that we fail.  I don't even believe in the lie that they are cruel, heartless vindictive people.  However, I do believe they are ineffective and out of touch with the reality of my ...

I walk down the hall with a large stack of test booklets and mentally rehearse the rules.  I am an alter boy - a mere pawn who, if all goes well, can fly under the radar. Here in Arizona, AIMS testing is the Holy Week of Arizona’s education, where students spend a total of eight hours taking a grueling standardized test. ...

She greets the students with a faux smile and haggard eyes, offering the same rehearsed line, ''pick up your bell work,'' and like androids, they wander to their assigned seats.  Though she resembles a Wal-Mart greeter, the classroom most closely resembles a McDonalds.  With the prefabricated, inoffensive posters, brightly ...

Sometimes I feel as if I don't fit into the system of education.  I wonder if I am just crazy or if I am part of a silent minority (perhaps even majority) who feel the same way.  So, I am making a list of paradigm shifts that I think many teachers, administrators and politicians need to make. I hate lists, but I really felt like turning ...

I recieved an e-mail this morning telling me that I need to send a list of ''bubble kids.'' (not in the John Travolta, Boy in the Bubble way, but rather the ones who are close to reaching a higher level on the standardized tests.) I don't mind offering tutoring.  Our team regularly gives up our prep period three days a week to tutor students ...

My students are designing their own Civil Rights / Human Rights museum and memorial. For those who do not draw well, I offered the opportunity to create a collage instead. There is a writing component, a poster board and a website that they design. Before we begin, I feel that I have a sense of what work students will produce. Yesterday, a girl ...

Yesterday, staff development was actually very relevant.  However, it was painful.  The question at hand was, ''Why did our school fail to make AYP?''  Looking back, I failed to differentiate between AYP and ''Why is our school a failing school?''  They used those terms synonomously, while they are actually quite ...

Every time I teach about government, students instantly ask, ''Why does this matter?'' I used to offer a pat answer about civic duty. ''If your school lunch is free, you at least owe it to your country to go to the polls when you're older.''  Yet, there was a nagging sense that guilting people into voting was less than inspiring. Moreover, it ...

Words are powerful.  Sticks and stones might lead to a scuffle, but a few words have launched wars.  A simple semantic shift from ''Jew'' to ''dirty Jew'' to ''rat'' can justify a Holocaust.  Likewise, the creation of the nuclear bomb can be named something as benevolent as ''the Manhatten Project,'' the bombs themselves can have ...

Our school is like a prison.  From the uniforms to the bland walls to the security cameras and the cafeteria food.  The average student is told what to do at all times - when to eat, when to pee, when to play (but not too rough), what to say, when to speak, when to write, what to copy down from the board.  In a littany of commands ...