Browsing archives for 'Editorials'
Education and Change
Is change always good and necessary? Why or why not?
The answer to this question depends on the context of the change. If we’re speaking of education, which I’m assuming we are, it also depends on the change itself. Not all changes are good. Not all changes are bad.
For example [...]
The mind is a terrible thing to close.
I remember when the only thing I had to worry about was whether the other kids liked me or not and whether I had acne that day or not. Yes. They were odd years. Being a teenager is tough. But ignorance is also bliss. There are so many things I didn’t know then and sometimes wish I could unlearn. Of course, today is different for teenagers. With so many “anti-something” groups, there’s always some controversy about something.
Even today’s teenagers have to [...]
The Level of Bias
I like to reflect on philosophies. Don’t ask me why. Must be one of those silly “growing older” things. Well, it happened again today. But I’m going to use this post to tell you all about it and at the same time answer a meme.
So, here’s seven things you need to know about me before I start:
- I’m Caucasian.
- I was raised Baptist.
- I’m male.
- I was born in the United States.
- I live in the United States.
- I’m a Southerner.
- I’m [...]
The Perfect Teacher
Some of my favorite quotes can be used to describe the “perfect” teacher.
“The mind is a terrible thing to close.” – Saphrym
Yeah. I said that one. It’s a play on the old slogan of the mind is a terrible thing to waste. But it means that we should always keep an open mind. And that goes double or even triple for teachers.
“If you capture kids’ hearts, you have their heads. If you don’t capture their hearts, you have no business messing with their heads.” – Menville Flippen
Teaching is not [...]
The 7 Taboo Topics
Here’s a few major taboo topics and how I feel about them. I think we should all be willing to talk about things like this in a civil manner. Feel free to disagree and state your own opinion. I’d love to hear it and I promise I won’t bite your head off for giving it.
1: God.
After many years of learning about the different religions and versions of them, I have come to a conclusion (this coming from a man who was music director at a Baptist church for 7 years from the age of 14): [...]
6 Qualities of an Effective School
1. Quality administration and staff – It irritates me tremendously to see teachers and administrators that don’t want to be at school. Teaching is one of those jobs where if you don’t love it, you really need to stop. Lack of love for the job translates into the classroom. Students can sense a lack of enthusiasm from the teachers. The teachers that students love are always the teachers that love their jobs. That’s a fact. I also do not agree with passing over prospective teachers just because they don’t add enough points for NCLB. Teachers need to be chosen based on their qualities and not their quantities (of certificates). If a teacher wants to be a teacher, they can always learn more about teaching. Experience and PD will take care of that. But if the teacher [...]
