Education Blog
Spending Money
For the most part, schools worry constantly about saving money. But with the economic stimulus package on the horizon, schools have a much more critical question to ask:
How do schools spend money wisely?
Here’s a link to information about the government spending on education. The challenge in all of this will not necessarily be on actually writing the checks. The challenge will be on writing the checks toward meaningful, sustainable, and effective measures that make long-term improvements in schools.
What would you spend the money on if you were in control?
Or better yet: if you ARE in control, what are you spending the money on?
Read More >>Schools as Places to WORK
There’s no shortage of conversation being bandied about lately regarding education and the role the economic stimulus package is going to play in schools. People from nearly every sector of society are weighing in on how to best move forward in American education. The sheer variety of suggestions is stupefying, but there is usually one common denominator: almost all these conversations end up discussing the critical need for quality educators.
From various corners of our society we’re hearing a similar refrain: we need to recruit excellent teachers and we need to retain the excellent ones already in the system. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in an article in the Star Tribune said, “We have the young guns coming out of college, the mid-career types in their 30 and 40s and people closer to retirement in their 50s and 60s who have a good 10 more years to work.
Read More >>What would it take to get YOU to teach?
I had the privilege of guest lecturing yesterday in a psych class at Macalester College here in St. Paul, MN. What a joy to spend time with students who have self-selected their college, their major, and are paying handsomely for their experiences. Talk about a well-versed and focused group of people!
There were no real parameters on our discussion, but we ended up mostly covering education policy issues and more general questions about society and education.
They had just gotten done reading this article titled What Is the Problem? The Challenge of Providing Effective Teachers for All Children
In the article the writers posit the following:
_Perhaps the most urgent problem facing American education, say Murnane and Steele, is the unequal distribution of high-quality teachers.
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I shall embrace, not fight Twitter
Okay. Mea culpa time. You should totally follow me on Twitter.
I’ve been fighting Twitter for a few months now. My brother is a social networking, web strategy, big thinking guru sort of dude. His company does this sort of big picture thinking for companies and they’re really good at it.
For months, Andrew has been saying, “Nate. You need to Twitter.”
And my response has been, “Andrew. No I don’t.”
But recently Andrew and I traveled together to Virginia. (Did we go to see Phish for three days? Perhaps we did, so what’s it to ya?)
It was on that trip that I finally “got” Twitter. The amount of timely, direct, and fluid information throughout those three days that happened because of Twitter was astounding. Upon my return, I started to poke around Twitter a little more.
I figured I’d find little more than “eating burrito for breakfast. yum!” or “stuck in traffic.
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We should all be more like Hollywood
He’s known by many names. “The dude with the mullet at Home Depot” is one. That “super nice guy who helps everyone at Home Depot” also suffices. But the name he goes by is “Hollywood.”
Hollywood works at the Home Depot by my house. He’s beloved. His mustache and gray haired mullet make him instantly recognizable. In fact, some months ago there was even an on-line lovefest about him behind his back (scroll down about half way and you’ll find it).
So last night I ran to Home Depot to pick up a washer, some gutter extensions, and a toilet repair kit. While I’m standing there choosing which toilet repair kit to get, Hollywood comes over to lend a hand. I’ve never met him, but he’s helped me plenty of times over the years.
Read More >>
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As a former teacher, I’ve seen first-hand the issues that educators face every day. I hope that by writing this blog, I can share some insights (as well as a sense of humor) on teacher job satisfaction and school climate, and spark conversation about how to improve our schools.
—Nathan Eklund, M.Ed
Senior Education Consultant
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