As we’re almost through with 2013, I wanted to thank all the readers that have made BCE a success this year. We’ve had over 4,800 page views since we started in July with over 1,400 in each of the past…
This post from BCE contributor Casie Jones appeared original in the commercial appeal and was republished on Education Week’s Teacher page. It was also named as one of the Huffington Post’s top 12 must read teacher voice stories of the…
Earlier today I found out that one of my pieces from this past year was rated as one of Teach Plus’ top 12 must read teacher articles for 2013! I think this piece is still as relevant as it was…
All first year teachers struggle, regardless of their background. Teaching involves a steep learning curve and much more so in an urban environment. The highs are amazing but the lows are overwhelming. The story below was written by a good…
I’ll be taking a break from writing between now and Christmas. Before I do, though, I want to highlight some of the things that we have going for us as educators in Shelby County, Tennessee and the United States. So…
From Classroom Chronicle: Scholastic’s Instructor magazine recently featured Memphis teacher Melissa Collins. Melissa was one of nine finalists for the 2013-14 Tennessee Teacher of the Year, and was named the Grand Division winner for West Tennessee. You might also recognize Melissa from a video…
I don’t always agree with Diane Ravitch. I’ve even criticized her on this blog. However, she does a phenomenal job of leveraging social media to promote her perspective on public education in America, which is something that all education advocates…
Memphis and Shelby County typically gets knocked pretty hard in measures of human capital. However, the picture might not necessarily be so bleak. Take a look at the following census data maps pulled from this article in the Atlantic titled…
I found this video created by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) via facebook. It gives a critical breakdown of the PISA scores (PISA: an international test administered by OECD countries used to compare student learning across those countries) in…
When I told my kids in May that I wouldn’t be returning the next year and said that I’d be moving schools, one of my students, Annie (not her real name) made a comment that I’ll never forget. She said…
