Social Media Policies

Posted by on Nov 30, 2010

Seems lots of people are working hard these days to establish policies specific to social media and online interactions with staff and students. Specifically, many of these policies are focused on the ways staff are engaging social media both inside and outside the classroom. My district has recently started exploring the possibility of establishing our […]

The Gardener or the Greenskeeper

Posted by on Sep 2, 2010

“Everyone must leave something in the room or left behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when […]

Another Beginning

Posted by on Jul 5, 2010

Life is unexpected. Just when you think you’ve crested a hill and can look long at the path stretching before you, opportunity arises and you find yourself taking a road unanticipated. I won’t say I’ve taken the one less traveled by, but I have taken another. Today, I officially began my job as the Director […]

Assessment is a Bad Word?

Posted by on Apr 1, 2010

Many teachers in many districts have the same reaction to the word assessment.  Mention it, and you could very well elicit a visual cringe.  That’s interesting. The most oft cited criticism of assessment is that we don’t have time for it.  I don’t really get that. I can’t say it any better than Grant Wiggins […]

Can Standardized Test Data be Formative?

Posted by on Mar 27, 2010

Very often we refer to state standardized testing data as summative.  It is used to determine if a student, and an institution, meet AYP.  We apply the data, much as the somewhat tired analogy goes, as a learning autopsy.  We identify problems and areas of health, and perhaps even the cause of learning death, but […]