‘For Teachers’ Archives
Why Do We Always Talk About Teachers, Not Administrators?
The discourse in education always disproportionately focuses on teachers, as if we are the root of all school evils. We never talk about ineffective Superintendents who make $250,000 a year but still need an $800 a month car allowance in a [...]
Should Students Get to Evaluate Teachers? I Think So.
The debate about evaluating teachers is heating up. It isn’t heating up in any kind of real discussion by those who want to become president—they’d rather focus on whether or not to build an oil pipeline through one of our largest water [...]
Making Education Look Good
When you ask a classroom full of high school students who wants to be a teacher, they start laughing so hard it’s almost impossible to bring the class back to order. “A teacher?” They cry. “Why would anyone want to be a teacher?”And [...]
Dope Lessons for Urban Students: Figurative Language BATTLE
You are about to witness high schools students battling. But don't worry, it won't be them actually punching each other in the throat, like what you can find on YouTube simply by searching the name of your high school followed by the word "fights." [...]
Teach4Real’s Big Announcement
I'm back and I have something special!I took the summer off of blogging, but have still kept very, very busy. Aside from teaching at UC Berkeley, and learning how to raise a 5 month old, I have put together a soon to be LEGENDARY House on Mango [...]
Teach4Real Greatest Hits: My Boy Arthur Who Can’t Pass Algebra
After a year of blogging, I am posting some of my favorite pieces. I just re-read this piece on a former student of mine, and it is just as heartbreaking to read as it was to write. Unfortunately, this situation is happening again this year, over [...]
Teach4Real Greatest Hits: Let’s Make a Deal: How to Help Fading (and Failing) Students at the End of the Year
For the next month I am going to celebrate one year of blogging with some of my greatest hits. Here is one about helping failing students at the end of the year.Everyone loves the end of the school year, especially the teachers and students. [...]
It Ain’t Easy Being Meezy
Michael Hiltzik’s recent article in the Los Angeles Times is a surprisingly moderate view of the pension issue. He talks about the difficulties in balancing out budgets at the state and federal level, focusing specifically on pensions. Hiltzik [...]
Connecting Test Scores to Teacher Pay: If It’s Not Being Done Right, Should We Still Do It?
A recent PPIC survey on education shows 69% of Californians believe student achievement should be closely tied with teachers’ salaries. This shows a greater concern about teacher quality, likely brought on by recent attacks on teachers unions. [...]
When You’re Happy, They’re Happy
I recently had a baby boy, and during the expected lack of sleep and increased irritability on my own part, I noticed something very important. When I am in a bad mood, easily annoyed and snappy, so are the students.It’s not like I’ve been [...]