Category Archives: Real World Education

Freedom to Teach, Freedom to Learn: A Year at Mission Hill

Chapter 5: The Eye of the Dragon As we saw in chapter three of A Year At Mission Hill, knowledge and skills are taught – in part – through school wide themes, which involve the community.  At the beginning of … Continue reading

Posted in Art instruction, Bill Gates, Common Core, Common Core High Stakes Testing, Democracy, Freedom to Learn: A Year At Mission Hill, Freedom to Teach, Our Schools Are NOT Broken, Real World Education, Schools are not broken, Social and Emotional Learning, Unique Talents | 3 Comments

Freedom to Teach, Freedom to Learn: A Year at Mission Hill

Chapter 4: Love and Limits Chapter 4 of A Year At Mission Hill gave me anxiety.  As a teacher of ELLs (English-language learners), some of whom have significant special needs, I pictured myself trying to teach NYS and NYC Common Core … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Freedom to Learn: A Year At Mission Hill, Freedom to Teach, Inclusion, Our Schools Are NOT Broken, Real World Education, Schools are not broken, Social and Emotional Learning, Special needs | 7 Comments

Freedom to Teach, Freedom to Learn: A Year At Mission Hill

Chapter 3: Making it Real Dear readers, I watched chapter three of A Year At Mission Hill with a heavy heart, almost tearful.  The way in which educators teach and students learn at Mission Hill is exactly what I’ve viscerally yearned … Continue reading

Posted in Bill Gates, Common Core High Stakes Testing, Democracy, Freedom to Learn: A Year At Mission Hill, Freedom to Teach, Measuring Effective Teaching, Measuring Student Engagement, Our Schools Are NOT Broken, Real World Education, Respect for Teachers, Standardized Testing, Trust | 1 Comment

Beginning the School Year: Building a Strong Social and Emotional Foundation

Freedom to Teach, Freedom to Learn: A Year at Mission Hill Chapter 2: Beginning the Year Dear readers, As you will see in chapter two of A Year at Mission Hill, at the beginning of the school year the teachers … Continue reading

Posted in Bill Gates, Common Core, Corporate Education Reform, Democracy, Dialogue with Teachers, Freedom to Learn: A Year At Mission Hill, Freedom to Teach, Measuring Effective Teaching, Measuring Student Engagement, Our Schools Are NOT Broken, Real World Education, Respect for Teachers, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

From the filmmakers of A Year at Mission Hill

Dear Bill and Melinda, We filmed this school because we think education does need to be reformed, but not the way the current version is trying to reform it. Instead of more tests and more standardization, we’d like to see … Continue reading

Posted in Class Size, Common Good, Democracy, Failing Schools, Freedom to Learn: A Year At Mission Hill, Freedom to Teach, IDEA, Our Schools Are NOT Broken, Real World Education, Respect for Teachers, Schools are not broken, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Skills go far beyond reading and mathematics

In response to Freedom to Teach, Freedom to Learn: A Year at Mission Hill, chapter 1. Dear Bill and Melinda, This is the kind of school parents want for their children…a place where they can learn in an environment of … Continue reading

Posted in IDEA, Our Schools Are NOT Broken, Real World Education, Respect for Teachers, Schools are not broken, Teacher - Student Relationships, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Real education reform would focus on ____________

Dear Bill, Someone posted something on Facebook today I have to take issue with here. The post suggested the math skills learned in high school are not applicable in real life. Actually, we use the skills taught in math classes … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Edreform, Real World Education, Testing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments