A memory from a Mother’s Day long ago
For Mother’s Day weekend, I thought I would give my readers a break from my normal education advocacy writings and share a story from my childhood as a tribute to my Mother. As a young boy growing up in Tennessee, it was a tradition at our church to wear roses on Mother’s day. We had [...]
A different take on “The Flipped Classroom.”
On Tuesday March 12, 2013 I spoke to the Michigan State Board of Education at their regular monthly meeting. Below is the text of my presentation. Good Afternoon. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today. I’m Dale Rogers. I am here today representing the Network of Michigan Educators. My association with the [...]
An open letter to state Sen. Joe Hune on public school retirement
Dear Sen. Hune, I am writing today in regard to Senate Bill 1040, also known as the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) reform bill. While I agree something must be done to reform the MPSERS, I believe Senate Bill 1040 is the wrong solution for many reasons. First is a matter of principle. [...]
So I may not be a jazz critic, but I think I recognize good teaching!
Can I get an “AMEN!” for this? “Empower Effective Teachers — Get Out of Our Way!” How about a “HALLELUIAH!” for this? Is it finally time to eliminate class schedules? In this edition of “reinventing the wheel instead of inventing the hover board”…Are we rushing to electronic textbooks too quickly? A theory I believe is [...]
If you’re a good teacher, then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about?
It seems I took the entire month of March off from Ranting, Reflecting and Reasoning. Actually I got sidetracked by following the story of Pascale Mauclair. If you don’t know Ms. Mauclair’s story, she was declared New York City’s “WORST” teacher based on a teacher evaluation system that utilizes the so-called “Value Added Measures.” Her [...]
Should they know it in 20 years?
In the summer of 2010 I participated in a curriculum development workshop where the facilitators explained the idea of the 40-40-40 concept for students. The “40-40-40″ concept has a few variations but what I take from it is this: There are some things in school that students need to learn and remember for 40 days, [...]
More Evidence for Politicans to Ignore.
Call me naive, but for some reason I prefer to consider research results and empirical evidence over ideology. As a result, I am always amazed at the absurdity of politicians and so-called “experts” when they continue to push for education policies that lack reliable research or have been demonstrated to be unsuccessful. Below are links [...]
NFL Football Players vs. Teachers?
As the Super Bowl yesterday marked the end of another football season, I thought it would be a good time to review what former NFL quarterback, Fran Tarkenton, opined last October in the Wall Street Journal: “What if the NFL Played by Teachers’ Rules“. In his piece the three-time Superbowl quarterback attempts to use the [...]
