Best quotation for teachers

"What year are you preparing your students for? 1973? 1995?
Can you honestly say that your school's curriculum and the program you use are preparing your students for 2015 or 2020? Are you even preparing them for today?"

Heidi Hayes Jacobs wrote the above quotation in the introduction to Curriculum 21, which she edited.

  Think about it. What year are you preparing your students for? What future jobs will they be able to get, learning under your guidance?
   I want my son prepared for the future. Why won't any parent want that? If yo are teaching memorization in the age of google, what are you doing? If you aren't teaching inquiry skills, or critical analysis skills, or creativity, what are you doing?

"To encourage means to give courage."

  "To encourage means to give courage", is the first line from the 'acknowledgments' of the book Curriculum 21, edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Heidi begins with this line as a way to thank the authors who contributed to the book, but I love the line for the layers of meaning it has for all of us.
    To many of us, it represents what teachers do. Teachers encourage students and in doing so give courage to students - they develop skills, knowledge, and appreciation.
   To education consultants the line also applies to the work they do with teachers. Consultants want to encourage teachers and give them courage to try newly developed classroom techniques and teaching strategies that reach more students and engage more students.
   As teachers get ready to start the school year I would encourage you to be more courageous.

First Blog Entry

It's the 12th of August and I've decided to start blogging. This blog isn't about family or friends or social events. This will be about education and thoughts about it. Most blogs will begin with a quotation from something I've read and I'll either leave it at that or add comments.