Consulting services now available!
If you are in need of a consultant in the areas of character education, team building, diversity training, differentiated instruction, elements of effective schools, classroom management, co-teaching, or are seeking fresh approaches to your curriculum, please .Need a keynoter?
I will gladly provide an affordable and motivational keynote filled with practical knowledge. to discuss your individual needs.Wow! In thinking about this introduction, I realized that I am just about to enter my THIRD DECADE as a teacher and/or administrator in public education. So much has changed...so much has stayed the same.
What's changed? Access. Information. Technology. Curriculum. Culture. Parity. Perception. As the saying goes, Shift Happens. Visit the Fischbowl for a powerful video on both the challenges and opportunities facing today's learners.
What's stayed the same (or should have)? Character. Kids. Innate enthusiasm. Curriculum. Dedicated teachers. Expectations of success. A desire that today's learners be tomorrow's thoughtful citizens.
I've had the opportunity to work in several schools in several roles over the past twenty-one years. I've been a special education teacher, a teacher of students labeled "at−risk", a low incidence special education administrator, an author, an assistant principal and a principal. I've worked in with students in kindergarten all the way through to the age of 22 in both Wisconsin and Illinois. In each of these settings, I've come to believe that it is never our learners who are flawed....it is rarely our teachers....and far too often, it is our educational system. The changes have outpaced the supports for those changes with low income populations being hit hardest by the plethora of adjustments that need to be made.
There has never been a better time to differentiate because there has never been a more critical time to shape information to provide more equitable access. The time is now to capture enthusiasm...to re−energize teachers towards their most noble and notable goal − to serve students and thus communities. Sometimes I feel as though I am a stalwart Pollyanna....but I truly believe that to deprive someone of hope is the ultimate injustice that another can invoke. Our schools must retain hope; we must find the means to make curriculum relevant and accessible in a climate of high expectations. The time is upon us to bring together all that we have learned and to make every one of our classrooms places where character traits are evident, perception is positive, and parity is the status quo.
I am always interested in hearing from others who are content with or concerned about the state and fate of public education. Please use the link on my home page to send me an email with your thoughts! If you have ideas or stories to share on the subject of educational equity, I´d love to hear those, too! Together, we can restore education to its greatest mission − to have all of our schools be student−focused centers of authentic learning.
Yours in Celebrating Learning,
