Poorly prepared in math?

Joanne Jacobs wrote an article about math teachers feeling ill prepared to teach. And the article referenced a book, Inequality for All: The Challenge of Unequal Opportunity in American Schools by William Schmidt and Curtis McKnight.

I read a little about the book in Scientific American and what struck me the most was he (don't know which one) was blaming the teachers.

He talked about moving from Michigan to Georgia and finding that the curricula do not align (duh) but somehow it was the teachers who were not prepared.

I want to read the whole book (should arrive in the next day or two, my local B&N never seems to have the book I want in the store. Maybe the articles are so short as to misrepresent what he says. More later.

I do know that we [Georgia] can't seem to follow any course long enough to develop decent resources.

Disappointed no longer

Now this might make up for this MAJOR disappointment.

More on the job of teaching

Bye Bye Bully

(Stolen from PO)



Wonder if this would work with administrators as well?

Six Word Saturday

Teachers are the backbone of society.

For more Six Word Saturday participants, click here.

Just give the money back

That seems to be the general consensus. Lately it seems that whenever there is some major change in education, like Race to the Top, the powers that be are linking the changes (more tests, teacher evaluations, etc) with money.

Is there any indication that more tests and teacher evaluations based on student input leads to more learning?

Or is that beside the point?

Teacher Appreciation Days Coming To OfficeMax This Weekend

Teacher Appreciation Days Coming To OfficeMax This Weekend (Taken from I want to teach forever.)

WHAT: Teachers spend roughly $1,000* out of their own pockets each year on school supplies. And, as school budgets decline, teachers face a new school year with added pressure to spend more of their personal salaries to help bridge the budget gap in the classroom. This weekend, OfficeMax is helping to ease this burden on teachers with special “Teacher Appreciation Days” honoring educators and offering major teacher-specific sales on essential classroom supplies.

WHEN: Event dates vary by market and can be found at www.officemax.com/celebrateteachers

WHERE: Local OfficeMax stores nationwide

DETAILS: Teachers receive the following during OfficeMax’s Teacher Appreciation Days (in-store only):

FREE Reusable Tote Bag
25% OFF everything** that fits inside the tote bag, including sale-priced items
Booklet of teacher-specific coupons (with big discounts) for later in the season
$10 in MaxPerks Rewards for every $75 teachers spend on qualifying purchases—up to $100 each year.


MaxPerks Rewards for Teachers
For additional savings opportunities throughout the year, teachers can join the MaxPerks Rewards for Teachers program at no charge either in-store or at www.officemaxperks.com.