Starting tomorrow, and all next week, I will be working with the California Teachers Association at the Capitol building in Sacramento bringing letting legislators know about the horrific cuts to education that an “all cuts” budget will bring, and asking them to pass, as a legislative majority, a budget that includes extending (not raising) certain [...]
A government decree that a particular situation requires the implementation of pre-arranged responses on a large scale; The status quo following such declaration en.wiktionary.org/wiki/state_of_emergency We all know how bad the budget situation is in California. Dire does not begin to get at the cumulative effects of three years of cuts totaling over $20 billion! There [...]
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of rushing from doing a small group administration of STAR testing to…my state Capitol, to testify on behalf of keeping EETT ARRA funding my state received for education technology in the classroom, and formula grants to districts. For the first time, it looks like the there is movement in a [...]
I know, another episode, and still reason is being overrun by, I’m not quite sure what, but your help is needed. Here is how things stand… The Assembly Subcommittee #2 on school finance will have a hearing next Tuesday, April 27 on the matter. At the pre-hearing meeting yesterday, members still seemed to feel they [...]
Howdy! I teach sixth grade at an elementary school in Sacramento, CA. I started my career in Oakland, Ca, and moved here to Sacramento in 2001.
My goals are:
To help me reach my goals, I use this blog as a place for me to reflect on best practices, and the practices I’m (trying to) putting in place in my classroom.
My philosophy of teaching is pragmatic (I’ll use what works, and I’m not particularly wed to one theory or another). I want students thinking critically, and engaged in what they are learning (Constructivism), but I know that many of my students (language learners and others) need schema, scaffolding, and explicit modeling, so I’m not afraid to use those as well.
My philosophy of technology education is that teaching comes first, but technology is an awesome tool to use to engage students, and help them create stuff. I prefer that the learning goal guide the use of technology, and not the other way around.
That’s the big picture. Other salient details are that I can be sharp, but I prefer to see the positive and connect with others rather than fighting and argufying. I can be hard on others (having high expectations), but no harder than I am on myself.
I can be contacted here.
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