Connected: The networked teacher
I recently sat down with Kira Baker-Doyle to talk about her book, The Networked Teacher, and the panel she moderated during the Philadelphia Writing Project's 10th Annual Celebration of Writing and...
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Reviving creativity in the classroom
A kindergarten student begins drawing a picture of God. Using various colors and shades, she draws a descriptive portrait of the divine. Her teacher soon approaches, looks at the drawing, and asks,...
View ArticleContinue the EduCon conversation on #engchat
Tonight 7:00 p.m. I will host #engchat and continue the conversation that Timothy Boyle and I convened at EducCon 2.4, entitled "Teachers as innovators and social entrepreneurs." #engchat is a...
View ArticleOne Voice for teaching and learning and the next superintendent
One Voice, an alliance of parents, students, and teachers, is gathering a group to testify at the next School Reform Commission meeting on Monday. The next SRC meeting will be another strategy,...
View ArticleWalkthrough team deems reading area 'clutter,' removes it
This guest blog post comes from Andrew Ganim, who shared a version of this story as testimony to the School Reform Commission on January 19.Talk to teachers in Philadelphia, and you'll hear more than...
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District to stop mandating use of scripted curricula
by Benjamin Herold for the Notebook and WHYY/NewsWorks UPDATED 12:30 a.m.Centrally mandated scripted curricula will soon be a thing of the past, New Chief Academic Officer Penny Nixon told the School...
View ArticleSchool autonomy for curriculum to return
Earlier this week the District announced a shift away from mandated, scripted curricula in favor of autonomy for individual schools. Over the past decade, the amount of autonomy a school has over its...
View ArticleState group urges more commitment to arts education
Arts education in Pennsylvania is declining and policymakers at all levels need to take action to restructure priorities and resources to make rich arts experiences accessible to all students,...
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Next edition of Notebook: Curriculum
The Notebook's April edition hits the streets today and members' mailboxes this weekend. (PDF version available now.) This time, our focus is on engaging curriculum. Below is a teaser from our front...
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Navegando por el mar de cambios en el currículo
Marilynn Holmes ha enseñado 1er grado en la Escuela Elemental Isaac A. Sheppard en West Kensington desde el 1968. Natural de una pequeña ciudad de minas de carbón cerca de Pittsburgh, y graduada de lo...
View ArticleFear factor
There were sighs of relief in Philadelphia schools this winter when District leaders announced they will no longer mandate the use of scripted curricula. This was the first clear reversal of a...
View ArticleAuthentic learning opportunities
A comment on the post "School autonomy for curriculum to return," from February 17.Thanks to Frank Murphy for sharing a concise trajectory of how the District's curriculum impacts our practice.During...
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Giving teachers more say
Something in Brenda Wolbransky's classroom doesn't feel right.The 32-year District veteran is pacing the rows of her honors English class at George Washington High, coaxing her students into a...
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Small moments, digital stories
As a result of the big changes underway in the School District, teachers will soon be given more freedom to be creative. As part of our April print edition, the Notebook and NewsWorks took a...
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Currículo cambiará debido a los Common Core standards
Si usted nunca ha escuchado sobre los Common Core standards (estándares básicos en común), es hora de tomar nota. Éstos podrían tener un efecto enorme en lo que los estudiantes aprenderán, y...
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Tougher standards, better readers?
What will you read this week? As part of our April print edition on engaging curriculum, the Notebook and NewsWorks took a multimedia peek inside the reading lives of local high school student Zach...
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Delving into music's impact
As a result of the big changes underway in the School District, teachers will soon be given more freedom to be creative. As part of our April print edition, the Notebook and NewsWorks took a...
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Math = Problem-solving
Mathematics teacher Brad Latimer has a raft of strategies to help his students learn challenging algebra and calculus.On a recent day, he started with a “warmup” question, challenging his senior...
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Experts about food
As a result of the big changes underway in the School District, teachers will soon be given more freedom to be creative. As part of our April print edition, the Notebook and NewsWorks took a...
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Engaging her students
In Michele McKeone's autistic support classroom at South Philadelphia High School, students develop their communication skills and the abilities necessary for their transition to independence....
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Helping students take the lead
As a result of the big changes underway in the School District, teachers will soon be given more freedom to be creative. As part of our April print edition, the Notebook and NewsWorks took a...
View ArticleReorganization is underway
Working with Chief Academic Officer Penny Nixon to develop a new organizational blueprint for the School District, seven “academic design subcommittees” have been meeting since February.Curriculum...
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Quicktakes: What are some things that keep you engaged at school?
Anh Phan, 17 Junior, Furness High School The friendly environment that the teachers bring to the school, especially with the English [language] learners. They inspire us to study English. It’s really...
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Literacy instruction under 4 District leaders...
Constance Clayton: 1982-1993 Clayton brought the District its first version of a standardized curriculum, one whose definition of “literacy” went beyond the traditional Dick-and-Jane focus on the...
View ArticleWhat is the Common Core?
The goal of the Common Core State Standards is to define what all students need to know and do in order to be college and career-ready when they graduate. According to the official web site, they...
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Working on a new blueprint for schools she grew up in
Penny Nixon fondly remembers Ms. Newman, her 12th grade teacher at Martin Luther King High School nearly 30 years ago."We wrote about almost everything in Ms. Newman's class," said Nixon. "We wrote...
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Riding the waves of curriculum change
Marilynn Holmes has taught 1st grade at Isaac A. Sheppard Elementary in West Kensington since 1968. A native of a coal-mining "company town" near Pittsburgh and a graduate of what was then known as...
View ArticleEducation for Liberation Curriculum Fair set for April
Teacher Action Group, or TAG, will be hosting its third annual Education for Liberation Curriculum Fair and Citywide Summit on Saturday, April 28. The theme for this year's event is "Our Schools, Our...
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Lorene Cary: A reading life
The morning newspaper. A collection of African-American short stories. A book about teachers' unions. Yesterday's mail.The stacks on Lorene Cary's dining room table hint at how thoroughly reading is...
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With Common Core, changes are coming to curriculum, tests
If you've never heard of the Common Core standards, it's time to take note: They could have a big effect on what students will learn – and maybe also on the tests that measure their progress.This...
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Lessons from teachers
Ask any teacher, whether at a neighborhood, magnet, or charter school, and most would agree that to keep students engaged and create meaningful learning, they need some autonomy – some room to be...
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Walkthrough team deemed reading area 'clutter'
Andrew Ganim of West Philadelphia testified to the School Reform Commission on January 19 about school officials’ sudden dismantling of a comfortable reading corner in a classroom in Lea Elementary...
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Navigating the digital world
As a result of the big changes underway in the School District, teachers will soon be given more freedom to be creative. As part of our April print edition, the Notebook and NewsWorks took a...
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Using the Notebook in the classroom
As part of our series on teachers and their lessons, this guest blog post is from Andrew Biros, who recently used the Notebook as the foundation for an extensive unit on social justice at University...
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A canopy view: 'The Village Proposal' book
“Reforming our schools to deliver a world-class education is a shared responsibility – the task cannot be shouldered by our nation's teachers and principals alone…” (U.S. Department of Education, ESA...
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Greatness on the ground
“We have to believe in ourselves and we have to speak with one voice,” said Maurice Jones, on the opening afternoon panel of the recemt Teacher Action Group/OneVoice Philadelphia Citywide Education...
View ArticleDisability-office counselor talks about finding services at college
The transition from high school to college is difficult for any student. But for special needs students, who often depend on tailored instruction and targeted resources at the high school level, the...
View ArticleEWA conference: Day 2
Education reporters returned to the University of Pennsylvania campus today to learn about education research and reporting tips at the Education Writers Association's National Seminar. Throughout the...
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Books boys can't resist
“Books Boys Can't Resist” was the theme for the 27th annual Children's Literature Conference at Shenandoah University in Virginia that I attended June 25-29, not a week after school ended for summer...
View ArticleConference on 'action civics' meets in city
A national group hoping to redefine civics education held a conference in Philadelphia earlier this month to strategize about ways to help schools prepare students to be engaged citizens.The effort,...
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District hosts open houses for Regional Talent Centers
By Kofi BineyWhen you first walk into Universal Audenried Charter High School, you are greeted by banners displaying various positive messages, such as “My future begins here,” “I help others...
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Pencils Down: It's time to rethink tests
How reliable are tests in measuring what really matters for 21st-century learning? And should high-stakes tests really be used as a punitive evaluation of teacher quality? With all the controversy...
View ArticleDistrict has new model for handling students' academic and behavioral problems
by Charlotte PopeThe School District has begun to roll out a new system for responding to poor classroom performance, bad behavior, and truancy in students.The West Philadelphia Parent and Family...
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District chief to present turnaround plan for schools on Monday
Four months after William Hite took the helm of one of the most troubled big-city school districts in the nation, the new Philadelphia superintendent is set to release his blueprint for turning the...
View ArticleCurriculum Fair and Education Summit taking place this Saturday
and the Campaign for Nonviolent Schools will hold the 4th annual Education for Liberation Curriculum Fair and Citywide Summit on Saturday, May 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Folks Arts and Cultural...
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Teachers, let the public know you're #HerePastJune
School vacation, for many teachers, is not time off, but time on.Contrary to popular perception, many educators don't spend the summers just relaxing at the beach or rejuvenating for the coming school...
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Poems that teachers love
April is National Poetry Month, but after reading the contributions of 90 teachers and educational thought leaders in the anthology Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach, I...
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Mastery 3.0: Moving beyond turnarounds
Concerned that not enough students at Mastery charter schools are enrolling, persisting, and succeeding in college, the organization is revamping its curriculum and instructional methods, according to...
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Reader feedback invited: Teaching about Ferguson in Philadelphia
Many Philadelphia students have yesterday's news on their minds today -- of the non-indictment in last summer's police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. And some teachers and schools have...
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