Building leaders through hands on experiences

The Food Project is a hands on experience that teaches kids from all over, including the inner cities; not only where their food comes from, but leaderships skills, civic duty, etc. This is an interesting video and article showing some highlights from the project.

To rate or not to rate - that is the accountability question

Nobody will argue against accountability. I have met with many teachers and I have heard time and time again from good teachers who realize we have teachers in the district who are just collecting a paycheck. Or teachers who are waiting until their retirement kicks in, and these good teachers don't want to teach next to those teachers, they get it. But, at what cost, are we grading our teachers? How much emphasis are we putting on things that have no impact on what or how kids are learning?

Take this experience one teacher had when her evaluator was observing her class as an example of how not to grade teachers. Kristen Amundson was teaching her English class and the students were really into the lesson. She recalls that one 16 year old boy stated that "You know, I've felt like that myself", again I say, a 16 year old boy. He got it; he grasped the meaning of a poem and related it to his own life. These are the moments great teachers exist for. And what did her evaluator observe and tell her? "You didn't call the roll". How degrading for this teacher. How is this an accurate assessment of what happened in that classroom on that day?

We need to have common sense. We need people who are evaluating our teachers in the classroom teaching from time to time to remember what it is like. We need our Hillsborough County Teachers participating and voicing their opinions as we participate in the Gates Grant we are expecting in the near future. We need your input.

Read this very interesting article in the Washington Post and let me know your thoughts.

9 Drug free appoaches to ADHD

I am not advocating for one approach or another. This article just gives parents and teachers something to think about.