School Supplies: Resources for the Reflective Educator

We hear it in schools every day! "He has no respect for adults!" "She does not follow my rules." "I told him to come to me and he walked away." "She just does not respect authority." We often allow these comments to pass us by just as we would a morning greeting or a check-in from a colleague. However, these phrases are indicators of the incorrect and dangerous assumption that power in school resides with the adults and is accepted by students. In her beautiful text Teaching to Transgress , bell hooks describes a classroom that is a "democratic setting where everyone feels responsibility to contribute" (p. 38). This statement sounds simple and straightforward but what it means is a complete transformation of the traditional power structures in a classroom and a flattening out of power, inquiry and contribution. If a teacher is determined to really know student and share power with them they must be aware of three critical elemen...

How might a lesson run if the teacher was allowed only 1000 words of whole-group instruction each class period? Speaking 1000 words at an average pace takes about 9 minutes which means that a teacher could only use 9 minutes to address instructions, misconceptions, management and assessment for an entire class. I believe that this challenge and having teachers and professional development leaders should try to accept on a regular basis because it is a limitation that, if implemented, would drastically change the way they plan, the task they asked students to do, they way they manage behavior and how they would differentiate for each student in the classroom. The implications of the 1000 Word Challenge on Planning:  First, it is important to note that the 1000 words only count in whole-group instruction. I am not advocating that a teacher spend their words and then sit at their desk while the students work. The 1000 words do not include conferring or small group instruction. Jus...

This week I was facilitating a professional development session focused on how teachers can cultivate their skills to support "new century students." The session included questions on professional development and a teacher's evolution over time and teacher engaged in amazing conversation about their work, career and how they have changed since their first days in the classroom. One teacher, who I respect deeply and who is widely respected in our school and community communicated that he has often been chided for not having "career aspirations that would lead him out of the classroom and into something bigger, like administration." This educator will likely spend his career in the classroom and in front of kids - an accomplishment that is superhuman to me and remarkably difficult in today's system. As a school administrator (admin light I consider myself) who left the classroom three years ago, I was both sympathetic to this comment and had a visceral reacti...