Sabrina

At any given moment, I am some combination of the following: A teacher, thinker, advocate, writer, and student. A wife, sister, daughter, friend, and party-goer. A cook, knitter, reader, musician, and traveler. I have a sarcastic sense of humor, but I'm totally willing to give you the shirt off my back if it looks like you need it. (Kinda like lemon meringue...always seeking that balance between tart and sweet.)

Sabrina has written 8 posts for Cooperative Catalyst

Taking Time to Practice Democracy #yearatMH

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ February 12, 2013 ⋅ Leave a comment

originally posted at the IDEA Blog. Are we ‘school-year’ wise, but lifetime foolish? Immediately after finishing the first video chapter of “A Year at Mission Hill,” I went over to the school’s website and read their mission statement. I was first struck by just how beautiful it is; their care and dedication to “helping parents … Continue reading →

Democracy in, democracy out.

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ February 20, 2012 ⋅ 2 Comments

This post is cross-posted from the recently launched Reclaiming Reform project. Public schools are not merely schools for the public, but schools of publicness: institutions where we learn what it means to be a public and start down the road toward common national and civic identity. —Benjamin Barber Watching the election-year (or really, election year-and-a-half) … Continue reading →

What’s wrong with this picture?

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ August 22, 2011 ⋅ 5 Comments

Here in Denver, new mayor Michael Hancock and several corporate-funded education advocacy organizations are hosting a series of education forums under the name “More From Our Schools: Deeper Dialogue on Education Issues“. So far, it looks like ideological balance is going to be a big issue for this “deeper dialogue”– right now, the only confirmed … Continue reading →

Why I’m Marching

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ May 25, 2011 ⋅ 10 Comments

Cross-posted from The Huffington Post and Daily Kos The development of common standards and shared assessments radically alters the market for innovation in curriculum development, professional development, and formative assessments. Previously, these markets operated on a state-by-state basis, and often on a district-by-district basis. But the adoption of common standards and shared assessments means that … Continue reading →

Reclaiming the Table

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ March 3, 2011 ⋅ 7 Comments

Over the past few months, I’ve started to feel cautiously hopeful that things might be taking a turn for the better. It started when I read and signed the Declaration of Professional Conscience for Teachers earlier this year, and continued as I watched groups like Parents Across America pick up steam, and as I got … Continue reading →

How do successful school systems treat teachers?

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ December 12, 2010 ⋅ 7 Comments

(Published on The Huffington Post on December 11, 2010) The recent release of two important reports led me to ask this question. The National Education Policy Center shared a brief that reviews available research on several different aspects of teacher evaluation and makes recommendations for a comprehensive approach to teacher evaluation. If different measures, like observation (by … Continue reading →

What does it mean to be well-educated?

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ November 10, 2010 ⋅ 9 Comments

This post originally appeared on my site a few months ago, and is running today on the Huffington Post. Read, then weigh in! “What does it mean to be well-educated?” This is another one of those simple, but complicated questions I consider daily. Whenever I summarize my view for others, I say something along the … Continue reading →

Don’t Hate, Collaborate! (Or, having fun while doing “serious” learning)

Posted by Sabrina ⋅ October 22, 2010 ⋅ 12 Comments

Hey, all! I’m Sabrina, a teacher-turned-activist in the Denver Metro Area. I teach upper elementary school children in struggling schools, and am taking this year off from the classroom to help counter some of the destructive strands in the current school reform movement. At the end of last year, after the tests were over and … Continue reading →