"What is going to happen to Apple now?" one of my students asked me. I paused. "Well," I said. "It's as if Willy Wonka has died." Their eyes went wide. Now this was something they understood. "Sure, he's passed the factory on to Charlie, but the question is now what...

I try to make a point to get to great book signings in order to ask the author questions for my class. I've had the chance to talk to Neil Gaiman about his writing process as well as Linda Sue Park, just to name a couple....

Dear President Obama and Secretary Duncan,

It's actually happened. On March 2, all direct funding of the National Writing Project was eliminated. As a result, you have deleted one of the only proven programs to improve teaching quality and student achievement. And with the murder of this program,...

It's spring 2011, and I am no longer called Heather among my peers. Instead, I am known by my number: 164. That's my place on our district's seniority list. With the pink slip plague rippling out from our district's first-year teachers toward those of us in our 11th, all of...

I know we wear a lot of hats already, but I believe that we as teachers need to don a new one, that of publicist. After all, looking at the villainization of teachers in the media, and frankly, the questionable decisions by many who claim to represent our interests, it's...

My sister-in-law called me the other day to ask my advice on picking a private school for her 5-year-old son. She's a great public school teacher who teaches with her whole heart, but the decisions of her district make her question what's best for her own child's education.

Recent decisions...

Before I came to education, I was in the private sector. And as much as schools would like to think there's nothing to be learned from a business model, the fact is that there are some pluses that education should wake up and listen to. On the flip...

I have written before in the past on various blog sites and networks about the vital equation that must exist in order for a student not to fail in our schools:

Family + Student + School + Policy makers/Voters = Student Success

Each variable is co-dependent on the other....

We can't go anywhere without hearing about the problems that plague education. The biggest problem of all, according to pundits and their sidekick, the media, is the villainous teacher. They claim we need a newer troop of best and brightest, but if attacking the profession is some kind of plan...

I was having dinner with a dear friend debating current topics in education: 21st century learning in a world of standardized assessments, teacher quality, union reform, life skills vs. subject matter competency, etc... It was a summit over a sundae, light conversational fare for two teachers on a weekend. Anyway,...