So, this is a great question. In Dodging the Pendulum, I hope to help educators navigate the vast sea of opinion, research, initiatives, publishings, lounges, principal offices, fads, or curriculum. If you’ve been in education long enough, you’ve seen it all. Including the fights. Yes, the fights. Phonics vs Whole Language. Growth Mindset vs Fact Recall. Standards vs Experiential Learning. Curriculum vs Experiences. Academics vs Social Support. Basil vs Novel Based. Writing Prompts vs Creative Writing.

We’ve all seen things dumped and new things taken on. We’ve watched as the pendulum has swung from one end, to the other, and back again. A mentor teacher once told me that after 30 years of teaching he is right back where he started; that practices have cycled back to when he had started. We need to get better. We need to grasp hold of the concept that each end of the spectrum has components that can contribute to student success. That’s right. Instead of looking at each extreme, we need to understand that both sides can contribute to a well rounded curriculum. We need to stop jumping on band wagons and start embracing the strongest practices that truly make the differences we need to see in education.