I’m always a little disturbed by how easily kids will write themselves off.
A visitor dropped by MC2 last week, and her mother stayed to see what the school was like—something we encourage and we like to see. Later on, it was brought to our attention that some of our students were rough-housing, and it caused [...]
I’ve been thinking about English Competencies for awhile now. Since about halfway through the year, the students have needed to create a writing portfolio at MC2, and it’s been a good start, though after looking at 3-4 of them, it’s obvious where I need to tighten it up. That will be this summer’s job—it’s not [...]
This has been a year for funding issues. It started in the Fall, when the federal grant that allowed several out of district students to continue working at MC2 through the end of the year. Many of those students—the bulk—took that time to graduate and have moved on to the next stage.
However, there were several [...]
The State of New Hampshire, for the first time, is now requiring juniors to participate in the NECAP assessment for science. Monadnock failed miserably with its last round of NECAP assessments, so this is a big deal.
I’ve talked before about how not to do a test, and Monadnock often does exactly what it ought not [...]
It’s funny what happens when you don’t guarantee a student will automatically move onto the next grade. Suddenly, rather than slack, they have to work.
Which really ought to be the point, after all.
In a traditional school, every year starts off with the kids ready and willing to work, and that lasts for the first quarter [...]
Some interesting news on the vice-principal hunt at MRHS. Mr. Pickering, in a move I can’t help but applaud, opened up the process to students as well as parents and others in the community. It’s a smart move.
Schools are too often closed communities (if communities at all), and the decisions made are not open to [...]
So no matter what else I’m going to be doing this summer, some of it will be tutoring kids for the SAT. I’ll either be doing so for Upward Bound or doing it on my own time for kids who need the help. As much as I hate the way these tests are structured, I’m [...]
So I got the results of my Praxis II test earliest this week. It was another step towards becoming highly qualified and certified in NH to teach Social Studies, and it hasn’t changed much since I took the test for English about ten years ago.
I wasn’t happy with it. Like every standardized test, it was [...]
Stories matter.
I’ve talked about this before, but what we tell ourselves about where we are and what we do directly impacts what happens. If I tell myself that what I do matters and has an effect, I’ll act like it does—and that means there’s a chance that what I do will make the difference.
The [...]
Sometimes it’s easy to change the world, to change the whole way everything is seen.
English teachers did so long ago, the moment they started re-evaluating the “classics” as the domain of “dead white men.” This was followed by wave after wave of battles about what constituted “good literature” and more importantly, “what should be taught.” [...]
MC2 graduated another student this Thursday, in one of the best graduation Gateways I’ve seen yet—though, to be fair, I think I’ve said that about all the graduations I’ve seen. Still, I’m struck once again at what can be done when students are required, for four or more years, to use their voice and to [...]
I haven’t been able to confirm it, but rumor says there are four science teachers leaving Monadnock this year—they’ve already found jobs, and it’s a done deal. More might leave—and why not? Science teachers are in short supply.
That’s 50% of the department.
I’ve reported on it before, but there are definitely going to be 4 [...]
So before I interrupted myself, I promised to talk about ways to get teachers and the community closer together—which incidentally should also help the students, and by extension the community as a whole. The simple fact of the matter is that the more we communicate, the better off we’ll be.
Whether we like to talk about [...]
The easy part of any problem is pointing fingers. It’s much harder to come up with a solution and to put it into action—and when the problem is as large as the ones facing a school district, it becomes harder to see where solutions might be found.
The fundamental truth is there are many problems, some [...]
It’s more than a little tragic that at the dawn of a new century, with a world more complicated and more connected than at any time in history, we’re struggling with how to educate the children who will inherit it.
I’m thinking of the problems in this district, and the ones in Nashua as well. It’s [...]
I spent Easter with my parents, and in addition to catching up on the various events in our respective lives, we also watched Tombstone on Showtime.
I was struck by the effect the Cowboys had on the community they inhabited. Whether they directly meant to or not, their lack of respect for order meant the law [...]
Well, it’s Friday, and it’s my birthday, and I’m stuck at job #2 when I ought to be at Good Friday services, so a blog seems to be in order. But what to say, what to say?
Hmm.
How’s this? I’m really lousy at responding to comments. Partly because I don’t want to cut anyone off, and [...]
From the Union Leader:
Since 2006, negotiators have struggled to reach an acceptable contract. Under the previous pact, some teachers were allowed to participate each year in an early retirement program that paid them a percentage of their salary for seven years. Additionally, teachers paid 10 percent toward their health-care costs.
On Monday, negotiators agreed to a [...]
I had an interesting conversation with my pastor the other day. He’s just returned from a seminar which, among other things, discussed those large “mega-churches.” For many years, churches like this have been the goal—to have a church which is large enough to have all the services there are to offer.
This seems to make sense. [...]
The New York Times had an interesting article, with an even more interesting headline: Survey Finds Teenagers Ignorant on Basic History and Literature Questions.
The gist of the article is a “think tank” phoned students and asked them questions related to history and literature, and found most didn’t know the answer. The conclusion is that No [...]
