Which is your most difficult month? When asked, teachers will usually choose between September and June.
Some find that the transition from summer to school that takes place in September is the most challenging. They point to the fact that students have come off a long break, with little or no organized (or sometimes even unorganized) learning having taken place for more than ten weeks. Requiring students to settle down into a regiment of classes, tests and homework, after the summer hiatus is no small feat.

One thing that I always dreaded, as I enjoyed my summer vacations as a child, was the knowledge that, come September, I would have to write an essay about it. The more cool stuff I did the more I would have to write, so I kept my summer fun to a minimum, usually 50 words or less.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to ask teachers to write about their summer vacations? As a school principal, I would always begin by back-to-school teacher meetings with exactly that question: What did you do on your summer vacation? I could easily divide the responses into two categories.

“Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage. Such wisdom of the ages, penned by American wit Ambrose Bierce, can be easily adapted to learning as well. We might say, “Learning is a love affair of the intellect, significantly diminished only by constant exposure to school.”
As the summer months roll in, there is a palatable sense of excitement in the air. Students count the minutes until that final bell rings; quite different from teachers and administrators who count the seconds. I once heard someone say that schools are the only environment in which everyone in attendance would rather be somewhere else; OK, schools and graveyards. Of course there are notable exceptions, but the rule holds fast to such an extent that it behooves us to question if it really has to be this way.

“Innovation never comes from the established institutions.” This statement, coming from Eric Schmidt, who served as the chief executive of Google from 2001 until 2011, makes us sit up and take notice. While Google has certainly impacted the way we interact with the world and with each other, we wonder who will make that impact on the way we teach and the way we learn?

With a focus on the content of their individual mission statements (or charters), charter schools try to become that innovative force acting just outside of ‘established’ educational institutions. The popularity of such schools speaks volumes of the need for such innovation and the belief of many parents that if change is going to happen, it is most likely going to happen outside the public school system. Most, it seems, agree with Mr. Schmidt.

I probably should not touch this subject. But, I’ve always wondered about charter schools. On the one hand they seem to be a great idea. Held accountable to the same standards as public schools and yet allowed to innovate and reform unencumbered by unwieldy bureaucracies. On the other hand they don’t really seem to deliver a superior education.

In the broad resegregation of the nation’s schools that has transpired over recent decades, New York’s public-school system looms as one of the most segregated. While the city’s public-school population looks diverse — 40.3 percent Hispanic, 32 percent black, 14.9 percent white and 13.7 percent Asian — many of its schools are nothing of the sort. About 650 of the nearly 1,700 schools in the system have populations that are 70 percent a single race, a New York Times analysis of schools data for the 2009-10 school year found; more than half the city’s schools are at least 90 percent black and Hispanic.

It’s about this time of year that the attention of our students begins to focus elsewhere. Spring is in full swing and the blooming flowers let them know that summer is just a month or so away. Summer vacation, almost three months of no school, is on their minds. And, the kids are thrilled.
By this time of year, there have been almost one hundred and fifty days of classes and everyone could use a break. Everyone in the school building is counting down the days. And it’s not only the students. Teachers and school administrators need to recharge. Anyone who has taught or administrated knows of the massive expenditure of focused energy that is needed on a daily basis in order to sustain the levels of excellence we strive to provide. Time away from the grind of teaching all day, every day, is a necessity.

In case you haven’t noticed, our kids spend a lot of time on the computer. ‘Everybody’s gone surfing’ meant something very different when the Beach Boys sang it than it does today. A virtual world of unlimited – but hopefully not unfiltered – information and media content awaits, a simple click away. A dizzying array of choices are offered, allowing them to individually answer the clarion call of ‘where do you want to go today?’ When they enter the world of the Internet they are in charge, the world is at their fingertips and they assume the role of both navigator and pilot.

After my last post, discussing the critical importance of the ‘why’ question, I received the following feedback:

The need is to CARE why… so many students do not care about knowledge; they care about “fun” and socialization. They have no idea that their time at school is to provide them with information that will shape their future. 40% drop out before completing secondary school… almost 1/2 of the nation is not prepared to lead the nation into the 22nd Century.

The point is well taken. How can we talk about teaching students to critically process information when we struggle to get them to care about the information in the first place?

The point is well taken. How can we talk about teaching students to critically process information when we struggle to get them to care about the information in the first place?

Psychologists tell us that children today have the ability to process information at incredible speeds. Obviously being constantly bombarded with information has created the need for such processing ability. In many cases, the newfound ability has in itself created a craving to be bombarded. The vicious cycle is well known.

How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, the joke goes, but it has to want to change! Effecting change in a school environment is a daunting task. This is due to the fact that, as the above quip illustrates, the environment has to want to change. This is rarely [...]

Watch Hertz Furniture’s School Matters Blogger and School Principal extraordinaire, Karmi Gross as he shares insights into an interesting phenomena amongst school principals. Principals walk into their role with a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm, ready to change the world. “But then things start to flatten out” says Karmi. Statistics show that the shelf life of school principal is 3 to 5 years while the longevity of top executives in the business world is much longer. Why the diffference? Watch the video to learn more.

Well, now the secret – if something millions of people already know could be called a secret – is out. And many in the education community are getting nervous, very nervous. Yes, Virginia, the Khan Academy really does exist. Yes, forget about pencils, forget about books, and certainly forget about teachers’ dirty looks. Sol Khan will teach you all you need to know.

Bumper sticker noticed on the back of a van:

It will be a great day when schools have all the money they need and the Air Force has to run a bake sale to buy a bomber.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the Air Force, and bombers, when used against the right people, can right some of the world’s wrongs. But the point of the bumper sticker is still cogent. Why do schools have to struggle to fund their programs while millions are doled out to other causes?

So here we go again. Once more we are presented with yet another savior, the answer to all that ails the educational system in the United States: curriculum standards, or to be more exact the new Common Core Standards.

Well, you ask, haven’t we been down this road before? This stuff sounds so familiar. Don’t individual states already have quite extensive and detailed educational standards that guide student learning and enhance achievement. What has changed?