Imagine: What if Teaching was as Sexy as Cooking Shows

Have you seen Chef’s Table on Netflix… Ugly Delicious… Salt, Fat, Acid & Heat.... Mind of a Chef… Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown… The Great British Baking Show? Shows about cooking are only getting sexier. Not sexy in the sense of more skin or romance; sexy in the sense of dramatic music paired with crackling fires in the crisp air of Patagonia; or a magical plant dropped into a wicker basket filled with water and as the music builds the plant extends and grows into a gorgeous flower that someone then eats and smiles with a look of tranquil satisfaction. I am talking about magic and cinematography and food kind of sexy. I mean, i'm writing this and dreaming about cooking, and eating, and watching Netflix (they got me hooked) kind of sexy. Like that pig was actually raised grazing in the woods then butchered and smoked 24 hours! Those chickens only eat red peppers so their yolks are red! or this miso was fermented for how many years! - kind if sexy.

Sadly, i watch too much t.v. about cooking, because i could go on for pages…

ImagineIan McLAughlinApril 23, 2019Netflix, Teacher's Table, Teaching, SexyComment

White Mediocrity: Where Do You Set the Bar?

If you have worked in education for any amount of time you are familiar with the terms “achievement gap” or, if you work in a more conscious organization, the “opportunity gap”, as well as the school-to-prison pipeline. In fact, I would bet that most people, whether they work in education or not, are familiar with these terms. They are real things, with real life consequences. Young people across the country go to schools where they are not expected to produce anything resembling the production of knowledge and are instead being supervised until they age out, drop out or are pushed out of public education. These cycles persist because we fail to hold students to high expectations in schools with the biggest “opportunity gaps.”…

Truth TellingIan McLAughlinFebruary 7, 2019white mediocrity, High Expectations, Teaching

Should I Leave My School? 5 Questions to Ask Before Quitting My Teaching Job

Across America there are successful schools, and there are failing schools. There are successful private schools, district schools, charter schools; successful schools in poor rural and urban landscapes, and successful schools in wealthy suburb and urban landscapes. Conversely, there are failing private, district and charter schools in varying landscapes across the country (albeit disproportionately more so in areas with lower socioeconomic levels and neighborhoods of color).