Author Archives: smithrd

The title of this article is intriguing; the premise is also fascinating.  According to Lise Eliot’s research, there are no significant differences in the way male and female brains work.  This is good news for teachers, but there is more involved in … Continue reading →

When I was an undergradate at Longwood preparing to become an English teacher, one of my professors told me that I was too smart to be a teacher. Even though it was a compliment, it really ticked me off. That was … Continue reading →

I am so glad that I didn’t catch the Monday, Spetember 20, Oprah episode in which she had guests–none of whom were teachers–talk about the appalling state of education in the U.S.  I, too, would have been in a white heat of … Continue reading →

This op/ed piece by Caitlin Moore in Educational Leadership is very insightful.  Of course, she is right that we must both fill buckets and light fires if we want our students to have rich learning experiences, but it is her … Continue reading →

I need to stop reading articles about education!  This one in Education Week about a Texas “controversy” about presentations of Islam and Christianity in textbooks makes my blood boil. The influence of textbook companies is frightening, but the influence of … Continue reading →

I was disgusted when I looked at my NCTE Inbox this morning to find that another school system is banning books. In this case it was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a book  by Sherman Alexie about a teen … Continue reading →