I give books to my grandchildren as Christmas and birthday gifts. At other times of the year, I may gift them with clothing or sports equipment or something that just makes Gramps feel good to give. But, at Christmas and … Continue reading
Give Books, A Gift Full of Rewards
“I Like My Teacher” Is A Measurement For School Success
Ask a primary school-age child about school and what do you expect to hear? Unlike their older siblings, these bright-eyed cherubs love to talk about school and they talk and talk and talk. Their most common response falls into two … Continue reading
Tell Me What You Learned Today. I’m Listening.
I watched my granddaughters skip up the walkway to their elementary school and wondered. What will they learn today? How well will they learn today what is important for them to know? How will they handle their learning frustrations? How … Continue reading
Self-Interest Drives School Choice
School choice is self-interest and self-interest is what it is, self before all else. One can parse out all the other motives and characteristics that underlie school choice and the one common denominator is “I want to choose who my … Continue reading
Stop Coddling the Hare; Tend to the Tortoise
Aesop spun a fable about a race between the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise won! However, that was just a fable and not likely in real life where tortoises are what they are – slow and late to the … Continue reading
Professional Pay for Teachers in Five Years Not Twenty-one
“How long will it take me to reach the top annual salary in my profession?”, the newly hired teacher asked. Her first-year salary was just above the national average for starting teachers. “Twenty-one years,” the district’s Human Relations officer told … Continue reading
In the Business of School, No News Is Bad News
When perception is reality, bad news about your school is terrible news, no news is bad news, and good news is the only news with a future. If your local school is not generating and publishing good news about its … Continue reading
The Ugly American Transcendent
When I read The Ugly American more than 50 years ago, an archetypal 3-D image affixed in my thinking, one that has emerged as a lens through which to observe phenomenal persons over the past half century. Yesterday, a populist … Continue reading
Human Talent Is The Key to Tech Advancement
You may read this article as a presentation of an employment concept or as an endorsement of a person; either way, you are right. Which is more valuable when you are short on each – human talent or tangible, highly … Continue reading
The Attack on Teacher Prep – A Last Bastian At Risk
The idea that teachers in public schools need not be professionally prepared by licensed teacher preparation programs is circulating in my state. So that I am clear on the issue, I believe that this idea is an unadulterated wrong. The … Continue reading