Teaching is an extraordinarily complex and challenging enterprise, made even more so by new academic standards to help students develop 21st-century skills and by years of harsh budget cuts. It can be reassuring for teachers to know that, for virtually every educational challenge they encounter, a fellow teacher somewhere undoubtedly has solved it. But it also can be frustrating: Who has come up with a solution, what is it and where can it be found?
There is an illogical contradiction to being a teacher in the United States. Teaching, in this country, is a knowledge profession largely without organized systems for teachers to share knowledge, challenges, ideas and support. Read More