After An Educator's Journey
Out of the classroom & into the universe
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Once upon a time, I taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. Now I’m retired and working on new ventures.
Author: amybisson
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This week, in place of starting a new school year as I have done for the past 30 years, I escaped for a mini-break to Manhattan. We purposely timed this trip to coincide with the first days of school in hope that a distraction would, well… distract me. One of our days in Manhattan was…
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When I first began teaching elementary school, the only “independent” books kids had were the books they checked out of the library. And maybe a borrowed read-aloud left of the chalk (!) ledge. Can you imagine how boring that must have been? Morphing to Reading Workshops and Daily Five gave our students opportunities to self-select…
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A former colleague and new-to-grade teacher recently asked if I’d share my plan book with her. I was, of course, flattered by that request and, since planbook.edu hadn’t yet disabled my account (retirement = less out-of-pocket spending), I was happy to send her a PDF of my old book. With footnotes. Why? Well, I realized…
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The New York Times has a good read today stating what nearly every educator in the U.S. could have predicted: indications showing the beginnings of a teacher shortage in the U.S. Read the article here. According to the author, because there aren’t enough teachers available to hire, urban districts across the U.S. – including Providence, RI right…
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Like a lot of ideas, Teach For America sounds good, but in actuality? Well, that’s a decision you would have to come to on your own. As a nonprofit, TFA’s stated slogan is “One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.” Who could argue with that? Creating a…
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The Daily Five Tip of the Week had a wonderful cover story this week. In it, Lori Sabo writes about the lasting impact Joan Moser had on a former first grader, recent high school graduate. In the end, the former student describes her current self through the books she loves. Beyond the well-deserved thanks that Joan…
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Have you read this tale of horrors published in Edushyster? Amy Berard’s post “I Am Not Tom Brady“, published on July 22, tells of how her school and school district contracted with a group of consultants to improve student engagement and teacher performance. Make that, mostly “improve” teacher performance. Picture an experienced teacher being “coached” by…
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Educational leaders could take a page from one of the world’s leaders in the automotive industry. Lately, educational leadership types keep trying to model education after industry. One of the problems with that idea is that some aspects of successful companies seems to be conveniently forgotten. For whatever reason, leaders at national and state, and…
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A year ago, my patient spouse and I moved from an exurb to the city of Lowell, MA. Even though we lived in the center of this (formerly) small town, walking was not an easy activity. In fact the walk score for our former address was 24 – meaning most every errand requires a car. In addition to…
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Recently the New York Times published an article revealing some of the back story about standardized test scoring. Read the story in entirety here. Is there anyone else who finds the bar for test scorers a little low? This year our grade level team struggled to standardize both on-demand and project writing samples. Trust me,…
After An Educator's Journey 