Waiting for Superman shined a national spotlight on the major problems facing education while painting a bleak picture of public education and glorified charter schools.

The upcoming book Finding Superman reveals the reality behind the claims in Waiting for Superman and explores the untold stories missed by the film with the help of today\’s leading minds in education. Dr. Watson Scott Swail and company also recognize the flourishing public schools, the failing charter schools, and the unlauded success stories of educators.

This chapter of Finding Superman\’s shares ways to stop waiting for Superman and find him in our schools.

Real life teachers offer inspiration to students every day. Great teachers give students confidence and knowledge that goes beyond simple education.

Here is a list of real-life teachers, some famous and some not, that stand out for their contributions to their students and the world.

While “education” and “reform” may have become dirty words, you can reform your classroom into a sparkling, spic-and-span wonderland with a little spring cleaning.

Spring cleaning can encompass many things, including:

*literally cleaning out the dirt and clutter that has accumulated over the school year
*welcoming in the new season indoors, outdoors and in your lessons
*remembering and rethinking goals for the year that get lost in the day to day

With public education currently under attack from many different sides, it is important that we as educators, become advocates for our profession. We need to arm ourselves with the facts, with why we should be proud of what we do, and how well we do it.

With that in mind, here is a list of ten interesting facts that teachers should be proud of. Read them for yourself…and then share them with everyone you know!

With public education currently under attack from many different sides, it is important that we as educators, become advocates for our profession. We need to arm ourselves with the facts, with why we should be proud of what we do, and how well we do it.

With that in mind, here is a list of ten interesting facts that teachers should be proud of. Read them for yourself…and then share them with everyone you know!

In past English classrooms, students often looked forward to the end of literature units. Once the final test was over, they knew the teacher would bring in the video version of the book – giving students a two day break to sleep, pass notes to friends, finish homework for other classes, or maybe (just maybe) compare and contrast the movie with the novel.

I have found film versions of novels to be incredibly useful in teaching literature units. By using films in a different way than we might have used them in the past, we can change their status from “fun reward with little meaning” to “incredibly beneficial tool with many uses.”

Here are my classroom movie strategies to increase student learning:

Science Fair Tips for Students

Created by high school student Kevin Temmer, this animated video is an excellent way to get students ready to complete a science fair project. The 15-minute video is a super student-friendly, step-by-step guide to science experiments that will ease science fair stress for students of all ages.

Based on this video, here\’s a text guide that you can also share with students.

I was an adult student, attending college in all of my seriousness, so eager to learn everything there was to know on how to be a teacher. I wanted to be good, great even, and I studied, and I planned, and I reflected my little heart out. And then I graduated, got my first teaching job and realized that I had very little idea of what it meant to really be a teacher.

So what I didn\’t learn in college is really quite a lot. I didn\’t learn how to gain my students\’ trust, interest or even attention. Instead I learned systems of control, management, and planning that would force students to listen. I didn\’t learn how to teach a child that consistently gets 5 hours of sleep every night because of parent job situation and therefore puts his head down on his desk every day. I learned that each child better pay attention to me because that is what children are supposed to do.

I was an adult student, attending college in all of my seriousness, so eager to learn everything there was to know on how to be a teacher. I wanted to be good, great even, and I studied, and I planned, and I reflected my little heart out. And then I graduated, got my first teaching job and realized that I had very little idea of what it meant to really be a teacher.

So what I didn\’t learn in college is really quite a lot. I didn\’t learn how to gain my students\’ trust, interest or even attention. Instead I learned systems of control, management, and planning that would force students to listen. I didn\’t learn how to teach a child that consistently gets 5 hours of sleep every night because of parent job situation and therefore puts his head down on his desk every day. I learned that each child better pay attention to me because that is what children are supposed to do.