Supporting New Teachers: What Can We Do?

This one came to my inbox the other day: an article from Education Week entitled "In U.S. Schools, New Teachers Are Hardly a Novelty." If you are involved in education in some way, whether as a teacher, an administrator, or even as a parent, I think it's worth reading.

One quote that jumped out and bit me:

Nationally, 12 percent of all public school teachers are in their first or second year, according to an Education Week analysis of new data from the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights. And in some states, that figure may be higher than 15 percent.

What's Your Brand?

Let's do a little free-association.

What pops to mind when you hear the word "brand?"

Are you picturing a cowboy, marking a cow as belonging to a certain ranch?

Or maybe you have in mind the logo for a specific company?

Or perhaps you're thinking of a celebrity who endorses a particular product?

Or...maybe you are picturing a person, and the way s/he portrays her/himself on social media?

I've been thinking about that last definition for "brand" lately. I recently have seen quite a few people on Twitter responding to this tweet, sharing their own stories of foolishness...

What's the most On Brand™️ story you have from your early childhood.

Mine is when my mom told me not to touch the electric stove when it was red, because that meant it was hot, so I made direct eye contact with her and slapped my hand down on the stove top.

— mu✨ (@prinxeMu) July 8, 2018

Teaching Science: Argument and Evidence

This tweet showed up in my Twitterfeed today...

A science classroom should be filled with the noise of students collecting evidence and arguing.

— Jennifer Weibert (@ngssfresno) July 9, 2018

I love this so much, and it sums up so much of the philosophy for teaching science that I tried to embody as a middle school science teacher, and now as I teach future science teachers as well.

Patriotism and Privilege

This past spring, I attended a conference in Washington DC.  It was my first time visiting, so I made arrangements to be able to spend half a day exploring the city and the landmarks. Public transit in DC is great with the Metro system, and even though I was staying in Alexandria for my conference, it was just a quick trip via train to the Mall.

As I was leaving my hotel, I texted my wife...

I'm going on an adventure!

Who it excited for an adventure in the City?