Thanksgiving time is when I read, especially books that I bought a long time ago and haven’t touched since then. Two of these books, Utopia (1516) by Thomas More, and The Dispossessed (1974) by Ursula K. Le Guin have caused me to rethink what schools can and should be. For…

Something that is said often in teaching is “I love teaching kids, everything else about the job sucks”. This is true, so very true. People choose to be teachers because they love kids. They love watching students grow, mature, learn new skills, and when that student leaves school be able…

Wednesday 12/8/2021 at 8 PM someone flashed a gun during a basketball game at the Ewing Marion Kauffman School. I was there, along with other staff, and a gym packed full of students excited to watch their classmates play. Ten minutes later shots rang out from the outside playground as…

Teachers keep hoping that the next catastrophe will create a new appreciation for teachers. This prevents what it takes to get real progress. — When COVID-19 first began to hit the United States, the areas that were hotspots such as New York saw amazing heroics from medical staff. Many nurses and doctors worked multiple shifts while wearing multiple layers of protective gear (if they had the gear, plenty of stories appeared of hospitals who…

Even before the rise of COVID-19, teaching was a profession struggling to be staffed. According to recent reports, there is a lack of qualified teachers, especially in high poverty schools. Not only is it hard to find qualified teachers, but it is also hard to keep new teachers in the…

Early in June, my school in Kansas City made the difficult choice to officially start the 2020–2021 school year virtually. I say this choice was difficult because at that time most schools in Missouri weren’t making a reopening plan. …