Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/17/2012
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Teaching ate me alive - Salon.com
Heartwrenching, heartaching, upsetting, but all too true. For those who want to see inside the life of many US public school teachers, Peter Hirzel has a gutsy, edgy post on salon and says many of the things that are often whispered and said in email. But there is a part that I want EVERY teacher to hear because it reflects something I say a lot to teachers: "When we have each others’ backs, we are invincible. So I hope all the teachers continue to be kind to one another, because one kind word was very, very often the only thing that got me through the day." BE KIND TO EACH OTHER. Encourage each other. Smile. Say hello. You are fellow journeyman and deserve each other's respect and kindness. Please hear this. Don't be discouraged, but if you're in edreform and don't read this post, you shouldn't be in edreform because you don't get the conflicting emotions plaguing the psyche of so many teachers today.
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The Chicago Teachers’ Strike, in Perspective - NYTimes.com
This New York Times Oped has the forums at Reddit roiling. It hits so many issues about helping poor children succeed (it isn't all about good teachers) and hits at the heart of the big picture problems that so many kids are having in their lives, not just in schools. We've got tough situations right now in the US often spurred by increasing violence and decreasing stability in the family. This is across the board in many schools, even mine, when parents fight, children suffer. Schools are part of a very complex equation in the lives of children and so are teachers. But to say that a teacher or a school are THE determining variable in the formula of success is wrong. This Oped is a good one and worth a read for everyone.
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The Only 2 Tricks You Need for Maximum Productivity
Jason Connell at lifehack shares the 2 most important things you should do for maximum productivity. I think if you had to get it down to two, these two would be it. (Planning weekly and planning daily) but I like how he describes it. Of course, he's not a Mom of 3 with 4 jobs like I am and so I have to add some other things like daily checklists and routines to be able to keep afloat, but the same basic element is there: plan your work and work your plan. Great article to get you motivated and refocused.
