teacher problems – Blue Cereal Education

And Your Name Is…?

Blue Cereal — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 11:38:45 +0000

The State of Indiana, perhaps in a desperate attempt to catch up with the serious hardcore crazies in competing red states such as Oklahoma, Texas, or Florida, recently passed HEA 1608, a piece of legislation whose actual wording is a bit of a mess but whose intent is quite clear – Stop Indiana Public School … Continue reading

Angry Black Girl

Blue Cereal — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 12:18:49 +0000

I should go ahead and admit up front that I’m probably going to say the wrong thing, or at least say something the wrong way. This is NOT an effort to play my version of the “It’s SO Hard To Be A White Guy” card. It’s hard to be ANYONE these days, but if we … Continue reading

You Must Get A Lot Of Phone Calls…

Blue Cereal — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 18:30:42 +0000

Sometimes you read the room wrong. Several years ago, when I was still leading workshops and such, I was doing an activity with a room full of 7th Grade Texas History teachers. Part of the activity required students (or in this case, teachers) to summarize a brief article we’d just read. They were told they … Continue reading

Something Of A Rut

Blue Cereal — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 20:48:29 +0000

I’ve fallen into something of a rut, and I worry if I don’t commit a few things to paper (er… you know what I mean), it may gradually evolve into the new normal. That’s one of the trickiest things about ruts – it doesn’t take long before you feel like you’ve always been in them, … Continue reading

Accountability vs. Opportunity

Blue Cereal — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 10:46:26 +0000

One of the coaches in my district approached me last week and asked if I had a moment to talk about a few students. Each of them had come pretty close to passing my class but had fallen short largely due to things entirely within their control – not turning in study guides for easy … Continue reading

8 Lessons For White Teachers In “Urban” Schools

Blue Cereal — Wed, 18 May 2022 23:11:14 +0000

I wrote recently about some of the challenges of being an old white guy from a non-descript middle-class background teaching in a high-poverty, majority-minority school. My goal was to be honest about some of the difficulties without veering into whining or – worse – appearing to criticize my kids. Whatever my struggles, they pale (if … Continue reading

A Leap of Well-Intentioned Delusion

Blue Cereal — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 01:15:43 +0000

There are so many things about teaching that are difficult to explain to those outside the field. (That may be true of other professions as well, but this is the one I know best.) Even within the world of public education, it’s tricky to balance honesty with optimism, or transparency with teamwork. Too much venting … Continue reading

‘D’ Is For ‘Dilemma’

Blue Cereal — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 22:23:13 +0000

I remember sitting down to my very first teacher certification test a quarter-century ago. I’d reported to some obscure little “testing center” hidden in an office complex I’d passed a hundred times without noticing and brought along all the right paperwork. I was armed with a reasonable knowledge of history and plenty of pedagogical theory, with a side of buzzwords and popular edu-trends of the time.

The first section of the exam was multiple choice. I read the first question and marked ‘D’. The second question I felt confident of as well; it also happened to be ‘D’. So was question three. And four. And five.

I stopped after the tenth question and scrolled back through my answers so far. They were all ‘D’.

Of Assumptions and Performative Wokeness

Blue Cereal — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 00:37:43 +0000

For more years than I can count, I found it odd that for all the amazing things special effects could do, snow in movies and TV shows looked so fake. Maybe it was one of those things like making gunshots sound richer and fuller than they often do in real life or allowing actresses to … Continue reading

Relationships (Repost)

Blue Cereal — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 19:00:20 +0000

Good morning. Welcome to our first back-to-school faculty meeting. We have several important items on the agenda today, then we’re going to fill the afternoon with pointless activities we found online because the district says we have to professionally develop until at least 3:00 whether we need it or not. As some of you know, we … Continue reading