I had the best conversation with my wife last night.
She had just finished reading Animal Farm for her book club. She hadn’t read it before, maybe because she’s from Poland. (Animal Farm is the allegorical tale of the Russian Revolution and Stalin’s rise to power in the Soviet Union as told through the lives of talking farm animals in England. Written by George Orwell and published in 1945. The whole book is online and free here.)
I have read this book probably 20 times. I taught this book Read more […]
Todd Farley, author of Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry (PoliPoint Press, 2009) leads us through a world that is at once outside of teaching and its very lifeblood.
Our Dark Lord.
In Making the Grades, Farley chronicles his 15-year rise through the standardized testing industry (STI); from lowly day-scorer to muckity-muck with a big expense account to high-paid consultant. In 1994, Farley started scoring written tests for $7.75/hour in Iowa City, IA. Read more […]
Herein you will find Part II of my review of the blockbuster film Waiting For Superman. Part I can be found here. Part II of the review first appeared, in more or less this form, as a guest post at White Group Mathematics.
At a certain level, it makes no difference whether parents are willfully negligent, stupid, or genuinely incapable of being good parents due to forces beyond their control. At the end of the day, you’re just a shitty parent and other people have to deal with your kids. They Read more […]
Heavy sighs all around.
Everybody is back to work now. Including me, in my own way. My kids started back at school today.
I considered doing a post before break was over about the angst of waiting to come back to school; the night sweats, panic attacks, crying, depression, cursing fits, plans to fake one’s own death and self-medication that had been the hallmarks of my reentry into the classroom after a long break. I have written before about the anxiety of coming back as well as about one Read more […]
I know I’m a little late to this party.
Remarkably, I have not seen the blockbuster film Waiting For Superman…until yesterday.
I have, of course, been aware of this movie and heard what many people, especially teachers, have had to say about it. It will not surprise you that, generally, people in my circle have not liked this movie. (By the way, I borrowed it from the public library, so I didn’t pay for it. But, ironically, I suddenly think I might be in favor of more censorship in public Read more […]
Ladies and Gentlemen–
I am proud to announce the Grand Opening of the REAL Teachbad Teacher Store. Inside you can find the classic Teachbad Therapy Magnet set as well as other brand new products that are here just in time for the holidays.
Aside from the new product offerings, another major improvement is that the store is now on the same site as the blog, not like the clown shoes place I had before.
Shop and enjoy.
Mr. Teachbad
Ladies and Gentlemen–
I may have just distilled the entire teaching universe down to 10 talking points. See what you think. Let me know.
TOP TEN REASONS YOU MAY NOT WANT TO BE A TEACHER
10) Become object of widespread public scorn;
9) Dignity offered as sacrifice to unholy lovechild of Bill Gates and Michelle Rhee;
8) Lazy, whiny, stupid, absent and/or unprepared students (which studies have shown to be the fault of teachers);
7) Need to use the bathroom? Great!! Your planning period Read more […]
Here’s what I would like to do. Eventually I would like to develop a survey of teacher satisfaction that will be answered by tens of thousands of teachers and former teachers and will be disseminated inter-galactically and change teaching forever, for the better.
I know that I skipped some steps just there and the details are lacking. But here is what we are doing now. I am experimenting with some new survey software. I put together a pretty meaningless survey that I am hoping you will complete Read more […]
Hi, Everybody–
There is an Occupy event being held tomorrow at McPherson Square, just behind the White House, at 15th and K St. NW. Easy to get to on the Blue and Orange line downtown. This is for educators and people who care about what they do.
I’ll be there and hope to see some of you.
Here are the details:
We teach the 99%! Stand up for public education in DC!
Grade-in and Speak out
McPherson Square | 15th & K Sts NW
Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 — 4:30pm
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From New Read more […]
FAKE EDUCATION NEWS
Omaha, NE–
Tim Laudner, 26, is a second year history teacher at Norris Middle School in Omaha, NE. Mr. Laudner is not having a good year.
He hasn’t lost all hope, but neither is he optimistic. I made an appointment to meet with Mr. Laudner before school to talk with him about his experiences as a second year teacher.
We got right to it.
Teachbad Education News (TEN): Thanks for agreeing to meet with me this morning. You told me over the phone that your first Read more […]
Mug and Ball Combo
Six Squeezable Teacher Balls!
Mr. Teachbad’s Squeezable Teacher Balls
Mug and Magnets Combo
