Now you should go here...

To anyone who happens to stumble upon this site, I'd like to send you to this new site where you can find a happy internet home.

See you there!

Stopping By to Say Hello to my Own Blog

Hello? Is there anybody in there?

I've stopped blogging simply because I NEED TO FINISH MY BOOK!!!!!!! So the written word is going one place and one place only.

The book has been titled and is due out this upcoming fall. After weeks and weeks of much gnashing of teeth, we've finalized the title. Drum roll please...

"How Was Your Day at School?: Improving Dialogue About Teacher Job Satisfaction."

So there it is. It feels so good. So very, very good. So, I'll talk to you soon. Hope all is well.

Nathan

Teacher Report Cards

There's a storm a-brewin'. Each year there's an annual report called Quality Counts. It's a state-by-state measurement of how public schools are performing. And each year there is both great rejoicing and also great gnashing of teeth in regards to the findings.

Locally, the story is going to be about how Minnesota did in terms of teachers and teaching. Ranked 39th and receiving an overall grade of D+ in the measurements about teachers, this year's report is going to rile up the masses and over the course of the next few days, it will be interesting to see how people react to this disturbing data. Here's a local article describing the findings.

What's going to be especially telling to observe will be how Joe Public reacts to this disparaging news about teaching. If this news came out about students, most of us would say, "We have go DO something!" When it comes out about teaching, will we react the same way or treat it punitively towards the educators?

If you pick apart the data, little of it is about the actual teachers; rather, it's about the systems in which they work. Will this be another "what's wrong with those teachers?" moment or will there be real conversation about real reform. Stay tuned.

The Debates I'd Like to See

I'm a bit of a political junkie, so it will be hard in the next year to resist exploring the elections on any given forum, including this one. I think if I sit on my hands, I can avoid it.

But generally speaking, I've been ruminating the kind of information about candidates that is bereft from today's political discourse. Here are the kinds of questions I'd like to know the answers to as I choose my candidate:

- What book are you presently reading?
- If you were to choose a national piece of fiction for all citizens to read, which book would you choose and why?
- What historical period would you hearken to in order to formulate your own understanding of our present times?
- What great piece of art best symbolizes your understanding of our time?


I could go on. I would be most curious if all the candidates could even come up with an answer to these questions. I'm not saying you couldn't be elected president without having answers, because I'm guessing it's highly likely that we're presently being proven that you can. But I sure would love to hear those answers. What would yours be?

Wait. People work during these two weeks?

I'm at work. The kids are at home on their holiday break. That just doesn't seem right. After 28 consecutive years of being on an academic calendar, this just doesn't seem right!

Nonetheless, I hope you are all rejuvenating and getting geared up for the seemingly endless stretch between now and Spring Break. Yikes.

As for me, I'll continue to work on my boy's Erector set. I'm four hours in, and here's all I have to show for my labors. Someday this will be a helicopter. Enjoy your break. You've earned it.

Entering through the side door into teaching

The Minneapolis StarTribune had an interesting article yesterday about a new program in the St. Paul public schools in which professionals from other sectors other than education will be brought on board, be given intensive teacher training, and enter the classrooms immediately in an effort to fill vacancies and also increase the diversity of the workforce.

The program is Run through the New Teacher Project, which claims the following:

In the fight to eliminate educational inequality, teachers matter most.
The New Teacher Project works with school districts and states nationwide to recruit, select, train and hire exceptional teachers.

There is a great deal of work being done to explore new ways of getting teachers into the classrooms. There is no question that this work is a result of good intentions and progressive innovations.

What I'm most curious about will be how the systems that bring these new teachers into schools will work to merge these new teachers with the "traditional" teachers already in place. Since St. Paul is in our backyard, this will be a fascinating process to observe. The jury will be out for sometime in regards to how these programs affect student achievement and the the teaching force writ large.

Do programs such as these rub any of you the wrong way or is this an innovation that you can embrace?

Ending the week with some good news!

I don't know if you're like me, but I spend a lot (too much?) time combing the internet for stories about education and educators. It's not too surprising that it's exceedingly easy to find negative, disparaging, or somewhat depressing news about schools. That's why whenever I find a positive story I'm always especially alert.

This recent story from the NY Times is one of those stories. It reports that the overall academic strength of the teacher pool has increased significantly. This is the type of story and the brand of trending that education needs more of, and it's always encouraging to see teaching cast in a positive light.

Happy reading and have a great weekend.

Nate