tag:blogs.edweek.org,2011-06-29:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77 2018-09-26T18:31:06Z From January 2010 to September 2018 Nancy Flanagan, an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership, wrote about the inconsistencies and inspirations, the incomprehensible, immoral and imaginative, in American education. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich., and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. Movable Type Pro 5.2.7 tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.77505 2018-09-22T12:57:11Z 2018-09-26T18:31:06Z

This is the 500th blog I've written as the Teacher in a Strange Land, for Education Week Teacher. As it turns out, it's also my final blog for EdWeek. Here are 13 things I have learned in the past nine years of observing and writing about Ed World.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ This is the 500th blog I've written as the Teacher in a Strange Land, for Education Week Teacher. As it turns out, it's also my final blog for EdWeek. Here are 13 things I have learned in the past nine years of observing and writing about Ed World. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.77397 2018-09-11T13:10:42Z 2018-09-15T04:19:56Z

It's hard to identify education heroes and sheroes. And perhaps even harder to pinpoint just whose work is slanted, paid-for and dishonest.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ It's hard to identify education heroes and sheroes. And perhaps even harder to pinpoint just whose work is slanted, paid-for and dishonest. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.77182 2018-08-15T15:08:47Z 2018-08-15T15:21:59Z

Dintersmith's take on what's going on in American schools seems to evolve throughout his narrative, built on daily experience through the lens of a non-educator-- going into school after school, meeting teachers, 'thought leaders' and honchos, then filtering their pitches, schticks and Big Ideas through his own Midwestern sensibilities. Is this real? he asks. Could this work everywhere? Should it?

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ Dintersmith's take on what's going on in American schools seems to evolve throughout his narrative, built on daily experience through the lens of a non-educator-- going into school after school, meeting teachers, 'thought leaders' and honchos, then filtering their pitches, schticks and Big Ideas through his own Midwestern sensibilities. Is this real? he asks. Could this work everywhere? Should it? tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.77140 2018-08-10T12:54:57Z 2019-10-25T12:50:59Z

I thought about what I had done during the 82 days since the Parkland shooting. Was it helping? Was it enough?

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ I thought about what I had done during the 82 days since the Parkland shooting. Was it helping? Was it enough? tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.77098 2018-08-06T18:44:43Z 2018-08-06T21:27:58Z

Teachers today are fearful of deviating from the textbook and state standards and opening discussions in secondary classrooms around bits of information (say, for example, the U.S. turning away ships full of Jewish refugees during WW II) that might portray America as less than enlightened.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ Teachers today are fearful of deviating from the textbook and state standards and opening discussions in secondary classrooms around bits of information (say, for example, the U.S. turning away ships full of Jewish refugees during WW II) that might portray America as less than enlightened. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76928 2018-07-17T18:11:07Z 2018-07-18T02:26:26Z

There are differences in use of offensive language--centered around the content of the point the speaker is trying to make. Still, I am appalled (as a teacher, especially) by the degradation of language in public discourse. Before we start selectively shaming folks, I think we should look at root causes.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ There are differences in use of offensive language--centered around the content of the point the speaker is trying to make. Still, I am appalled (as a teacher, especially) by the degradation of language in public discourse. Before we start selectively shaming folks, I think we should look at root causes. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76835 2018-07-05T13:39:06Z 2018-07-18T16:00:24Z

I think I was experiencing the sacred last night, watching the 90-something Navy man sing 'Anchors Aweigh' in the front row--and the grandfathers who served in Vietnam shyly nod to each other across the crowd. I also thought about where and how those men and women were educated. Where did they absorb the idea that citizenship is both blessing and duty? Who taught them to read and calculate, who nurtured their talents and their dreams?

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ I think I was experiencing the sacred last night, watching the 90-something Navy man sing 'Anchors Aweigh' in the front row--and the grandfathers who served in Vietnam shyly nod to each other across the crowd. I also thought about where and how those men and women were educated. Where did they absorb the idea that citizenship is both blessing and duty? Who taught them to read and calculate, who nurtured their talents and their dreams? tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76659 2018-06-16T01:35:43Z 2018-06-18T15:21:13Z

It is a point of pride, really, having these core democratic values as an anchor in the Mitten State Social Studies standards. Here's a list of those identified values: Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, justice, the common good, equality, truth, diversity, popular sovereignty and patriotism. Things we all agree on, right?

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ It is a point of pride, really, having these core democratic values as an anchor in the Mitten State Social Studies standards. Here's a list of those identified values: Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, justice, the common good, equality, truth, diversity, popular sovereignty and patriotism. Things we all agree on, right? tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76503 2018-06-01T01:37:45Z 2018-06-02T14:54:23Z

Nobody's more pragmatic than a would-be teacher leader who knows that taking on leadership roles means expanding the workload. More to the point, teacher leaders understand that the only definition of leadership that matters in education world is keeping one's promises. Getting stuff--the right stuff--done. Gender is irrelevant, they'll tell you.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ Nobody's more pragmatic than a would-be teacher leader who knows that taking on leadership roles means expanding the workload. More to the point, teacher leaders understand that the only definition of leadership that matters in education world is keeping one's promises. Getting stuff--the right stuff--done. Gender is irrelevant, they'll tell you. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76320 2018-05-11T20:53:38Z 2018-05-14T14:52:31Z

It's time we asked ourselves just who gets 'appreciated' once a year--and whose work is considered vital, essential and fully professional year-round, with no need for annual symbolic gestures. There's something about Teacher Appreciation Week that smacks of a pat on the head for being willing to go the distance without adequate compensation or support.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ It's time we asked ourselves just who gets 'appreciated' once a year--and whose work is considered vital, essential and fully professional year-round, with no need for annual symbolic gestures. There's something about Teacher Appreciation Week that smacks of a pat on the head for being willing to go the distance without adequate compensation or support. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76200 2018-05-02T19:01:50Z 2018-05-03T14:26:18Z

I certainly hope there's never a rigid, unchanging agreement on the One Best Way to teach people of any age to read. All scholarly disciplines should undergo regular re-assessment, as research reshapes knowledge. There are still classrooms in the United States, after all, where evolution is not settled science.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ I certainly hope there's never a rigid, unchanging agreement on the One Best Way to teach people of any age to read. All scholarly disciplines should undergo regular re-assessment, as research reshapes knowledge. There are still classrooms in the United States, after all, where evolution is not settled science. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.76079 2018-04-20T11:40:20Z 2018-04-23T14:50:57Z

I'm not naïve enough to think that schools could turn hearts and minds in a K-12 generation. But could they do significant good, given the right tools and incentives?

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ I'm not naïve enough to think that schools could turn hearts and minds in a K-12 generation. But could they do significant good, given the right tools and incentives? tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.75967 2018-04-10T18:19:34Z 2018-04-11T13:58:53Z

Teacher walkouts are the ultimate outcome of wringing every drop of energy, patience and creative juice out of a well-meaning workforce.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ Teacher walkouts are the ultimate outcome of wringing every drop of energy, patience and creative juice out of a well-meaning workforce. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.75722 2018-03-20T20:08:00Z 2018-03-21T14:09:48Z

It's hard to imagine what could be more important than developing the critical thinking skills that facilitate our students' ability to discern truth from fake news. Media literacy may be in the standards, somewhere, but it's not on the test, so it gets short shrift in the classroom.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ It's hard to imagine what could be more important than developing the critical thinking skills that facilitate our students' ability to discern truth from fake news. Media literacy may be in the standards, somewhere, but it's not on the test, so it gets short shrift in the classroom. tag:blogs.edweek.org,2018:/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land//77.75683 2018-03-16T19:50:27Z 2018-03-19T16:20:26Z

An urgent call to teach our children this: Making and appreciating art that reflects our collective joys and sorrows is part of what it means to be human. Art helps human movements and causes take flight.

Nancy Flanagan http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/ An urgent call to teach our children this: Making and appreciating art that reflects our collective joys and sorrows is part of what it means to be human. Art helps human movements and causes take flight.