Think about the spice section of the supermarket. It is a veritable cornucopia of colors and scents. Some of us go to our favorites and don’t steer away. Others of us want something new, so we’ll try a new color, or the spice we heard about on Food Network. The problem is, without REALLY knowing […]

The other day, I came across a quote attributed to Ghandi. It states, “Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” That quote is so powerful to me because Ghandi believed this, even though he did not follow these precepts to a T. You see, Ghandi was also known […]

I was recently having a discussion with some educator friends about the challenges of teaching in New York City. Whether one is a private, public, or charter teacher, some problems seem to overlap. Where there may be discrepancies around available resources, all teachers agree that the greatest challenge in teaching is the need to modify […]

Today, I watched Ava Duvernay talk about diversity issues in Hollywood. She said that the word diversity was a medicinal word. It got me to thinking about OTC medicines. Those quick-fixes we purchase at the store only address the symptoms. We have a cough, we get a cough medicine. Our head hurts, we get ibuprofen. How much […]

Teachers typically begin the year with a broad idea of what children should know and understand. Whether it is Race to the Top, or No Child Left Behind, or any other phase of the month, students and teachers are often expected to successfully master, at least to minimum proficiency, a large quantity of content and […]

Teaching is science and art, magic and faith. On one hand, a responsible teacher will prepare themselves to be the best possible educator a student has ever encountered, by engaging in years of training and practice. On the other hand, a teacher must possess hope beyond hope that all the years of practice and training […]

The best educator sees each child as their own. Their work should aim to settle the internal storms brought on by normal child development, while continually encouraging students toward a growing edge that may be uncomfortable. To that end, educators must study both how students learn and how to create a space that allows learning […]