My first work on a presidential campaign began in 1972 when I worked on the McGovern campaign. McGovern by the way was the person that opened the Democratic primary process to women and people of color and ran on a platform to get us out of Vietnam. He lost to Nixon – who […]
I have been watching the RNC – I admit not for very long periods of time because the hatred that I see in the faces of some of the delegates and the demeaning language that spews from the mouths of some of the speakers is difficult to listen to before my eardrums burst. […]
I am sick of the killings. I don’t want black men shot in the streets. I don’t want cops shot by a sniper. I don’t want children shot in schools. I do not want any of this. When I began writing this blog entry only the Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights shootings had […]
Recently a former colleague of mine passed away. We were both on the faculty at an urban middle/high school in Philadelphia and her passing made me think about the feelings that I had when she transferred to another Philly high school. I believed, at that time, that a teacher should have a clear […]
There was an editorial response to Gov. Wolf’s veto in the Sunday Inquirer – it can be found at this link http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20160529_Commentary__With_veto__Wolf_puts_unions_ahead_of_students.html The editorial was written by Sharif El-Mekki, a principal at a Mastery Charter School, and is critical of the veto because it “puts unions ahead of students.” El-Mekki suggests that […]
The first date is April 4, 1968 – the date of Martin Luther King’s assassination. The second date is April 5th – my birthdate. At this time each year I find myself reflecting on the conjunction of those two dates. First – the birthday – I have never been a huge fan of celebrating […]
Team teaching can be a powerful way to develop a curriculum that places student learning at the center of attention. When team teaching is grounded in principles of cooperation, social justice and innovation, it can produce teaching that is vibrant and results in an organic classroom practice that matures as the student/teacher community grows […]
Last month I attended my high school reunion – my memory told me that there were 33 seniors but a quick count in our yearbook shows that there were 40 seniors. OK, I suppose this moves me into some aging category, though I am not sure which one or how it does that beyond noting […]
This will at least be the beginning of the telling of this story. I recently read an article in The Atlantic that was titled ‘Why Teachers of Color Quit’. This article was brought to my attention by a former teacher friend and colleague, and the article resonated with me, making me think again about the […]
Since the new school year is about to begin, I am reaching out to Philly public school teachers to share some thoughts about two articles that came to my attention in the last few days. The first article was in the Inquirer from Aug 18th, 2015, and concerned a $2 million Gates grant given to […]
tremphil 