Cristina Duncan Evans

41406 « Letter to a Ninth-Year Teacher | Main | Widening the Hoop on Teacher Evaluation » Over the past few weeks, the educational policy conversation has been circling the familiar topic of teacher collaboration. BothThe New York Times Magazine andThe Atlantic have recently published articles that advocate for increased collaborative time for teachers to develop their skills and learn how to skillfully implement Common Core.

42907 « The Human Element: Why Classroom Management Matters | Main | Crappy Lessons, Quarterbacks, and Giving Teachers Space to Experiment » One of the parts of my job that I've always disliked is the fact that social studies teachers are often explicitly or implicitly tasked with teaching the holidays, or national days of rememberance. Resources abound for teaching 9/11, Constitution Day, Columbus Day, and on and on.

While still proportionately small, the standardized testing opt-out movement has gained prominence this spring, with many parents in some areas deciding to pull their students from common-core-aligned assessments, due to concerns about overtesting and the uses of the results. As a teacher, how do you feel about the opt-out movement? In your view, is it helping or hurting in terms of bringing attention to important issues teaching and learning? Has it impacted your work to any degree?