Literature Circles
Each year as the school year opens, we begin as a community of readers. A few years ago, we borrowed an idea from Beverly High School to implement Literature Circles. Throughout the school year, teachers and students recommend books to our librarian, who then selects...
The Art of Leadership
I wrote The Art of Leadership for the American School Board Journal in June 2011... it's also posted on the Publications tab of my blog. Comments are welcome!
Educational Disparity and Minority Youth Symposium
Last Friday, I traveled to Connecticut with BAA theatre teacher Juanita Rodrigues and five of our theatre students for the Educational Disparity and Minority Youth symposium, presented by Quinnipiac University School of Law and Yale Law School. I was invited to speak...
News from the Coalition of Essential Schools
Two exciting pieces of news from the Coalition of Essential Schools... The first is that registration is now open for Fall Forum 2011! I cannot emphasize enough what an amazing professional development opportunity this is. A Boston Arts Academy team attends each each...
Summer Reading
Beacon Press (the publisher of my book, The Hardest Questions Aren't on the Test) put together a great blog that compiles the summer reading lists of education authors. Click here to see what books I enjoyed this summer (many of which are from Boston Arts Academy's...
Supporting great teachers
Each year as we begin a new school year we return to these essential questions: What makes great teachers possible and how can school leaders support good teachers? Most teachers begin their careers in the classroom, with the door shut, and develop their skills alone....
Exciting news from Argentina!
Many of you know that I returned to Argentina in July 2010, and that my book was published in Spanish there ("Las Preguntas Fundamentales no Están en el Examen.") Argentina is determined to use the arts as a mechanism to challenge and change both school structures as...
Why I Love Puppets
Many of my teachers will tell you that I have driven them nuts (justifiably) asking, “When are we going to do puppets?” For years, I’ve gone on and on with whomever would listen about why I love puppets. From a Surdna Fellow artist-teacher who gave a puppet and...
Small Schools Leadership in Oregon
How can we prevent districts and school systems from reverting to the status quo? How can we encourage schools and school systems to truly innovate and to withstand the pressure of being sucked back to a laissez-faire time? How can we be unionized and have the...
Summer Institute at Boston Arts Academy
I’m excited to announce that the eighth annual Summer Institute for Arts in Education will be held at Boston Arts Academy from June 29 to July 1, 2011. Summer Institute is a three-day conference for local, national, and international educators, geared for K-12...