The Hook of Standardization
By Matt Jablonski, Elyria EA | It is time for a change. My career has been devoted to the necessary, but misguided task of guiding students through a standardized system that has little relevance to life beyond high school.
OEA #RedForEd T-Shirts!
Order a custom OEA #RedForED t-shirt today. Only $15.00 | We’re calling on all Ohio educators and support professionals to wear red every Wednesday!
An Open Letter to the Survivors of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting
One of the most painful and gut-wrenching things I have ever done is watch the video that one of you took as the police came to lead you out of your building. School shootings have always had a deep impact …
OEA Discussion Board Rules
Every social media site and website has its own rules, and these are our rules for participating in Voices of Change’s discussions and comments. First and foremost: Play nice. It flies counter to the fundamental purpose of blogs to censor …
Gradual Gratitude – Emerging from Post-Election Trauma
I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t think. I hurt, all over. I couldn’t put two words together and the idea of ever being able to write about it seemed impossible. I eventually realized that what I am feeling is indeed grief. I am mourning the loss of the idealistic image I had of our country, of what it could have been, what it should have been, and I am reeling from the injustice of it all.
The elephant and donkey in the room
By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association One of them is a football player for a small college, a former student of mine who sends me a Facebook message when he’s going to be home for a weekend to see …
We can use this election to inspire our students
Gina Daniels H.S. Social Studies Teacher Blacklick, Ohio Donald Trump proclaims that he is qualified to serve in the highest executive position in the land. But in this election season we have heard Trump refer to women as “fat pigs” …
State Superintendent DeMaria responds to a teacher’s letter
Dear Julie: Thanks so much for your message. First, let me say, I hear you! I sympathize with your frustration and am deeply saddened that we find ourselves in a state where teachers are demoralized and feeling demeaned. Your third …
They Weren’t Here When the World Stopped Turning
The events of September 11th can easily be used to teach many common core standards, at least at the high school level. But that’s not why I teach it. For the freshmen who were in my class that day, I am a part of their memories of September 11th, as they are of mine. But the freshmen who are in my classes today have no memory of 9/11; they were not even born yet. We can’t teach our students to feel what we feel when we remember that day, but we can teach them about the beauty of the flags flying on nearly every house for weeks afterward.
How I wound up in Prison and what I did when I got there
Charles Steinbower Library Media Specialist Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections I never intended to wind up as a Library Media Specialist in a Prison Library, but I’ve been working within the Ohio Department of Youth Services for three decades now. …
