The anxiety dreams have begun. I have several, but here’s the basic plot of my most frequent night-terror: Some how it went unnoticed that I didn’t have enough credits to graduate from high school (in 1985) . . . a fact that was missed by my undergraduate college and the four subsequent graduate institutions which […]
Linda Darcy
Linda left the classroom after 16 years as a secondary World Language Teacher in the Hartford region. She has served in several leadership positions, always with a focus on teacher professional learning. Through an eclectic selection of professional experience and trainings, Linda has honed her skills as an instructional coach, curriculum writer and national presenter. Her areas of expertise include Curriculum and Instructional Design, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Social-Emotional Learning, Instructional Coaching, Adult Learning and Language Acquisition Pedagogy. She has presented at national conferences such as the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, Phi Delta Kappa’s Conference for Future Educators, and the Learning Forward National Conference on the topics of professional learning systems, teacher retention and motivating learners. She is currently studying for her doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Connecticut. Her primary areas of research include culturally relevant pedagogy, teacher retention and urban education.
Posted inUncategorized
Who Will Care for the Teachers?
When I sat down to write this piece, my purpose was to scribe a thinly veiled, autobiographical accounting of my own experience of surviving the middle school classroom while I struggled with depression. However, wanting to avoid the cathartic-memoir trope, I planned to include information on the prevalence of depressive disorders among classroom teachers .I […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instructional Strategies, Opinion
No One Wants to be ‘Managed’
Years ago I stopped presenting, coaching and even talking about ‘classroom management’. Who wants to be managed? To be ‘handled’? As an adult, I want to be led. Students want to learn and they want (yearn for) boundaries; AND they want to be led. Creating and adhering to a list of concrete rules and automatic […]
Posted inFeatured, Uncategorized
Building Long-Term Relationships: The Puzzle of Teacher Retention
Studies related to teacher attrition have become ubiquitous. From the Gates Foundation to Harvard’s Project on the Next Generation of Teachers, to the Connecticut Center for School Change, educational researchers are searching for the enigmatic key to unlock a new understanding of the issue. The answer, however, remains elusive. Despite this treasure trove of studies, […]
Posted inFeatured, Middle School
Off-Team Blues in Middle School
The final bell rang and I look out over the sea of empty desks in my classroom. “Where is everyone?” I ask the spattering of students who showed up. The response: “Team 2 has a field trip today.” Ah. It’s not easy being an ‘off-team teacher’ in a team-based middle school. We are always the […]
Posted inFeatured, Instructional Strategies, Middle School
My Year Teaching in the Cloud Forest: Part 1
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] I like a challenge. When skateboarding became the rage in the 70s (I’m talking metal wheels short wooden boards) I was the first in the neighborhood to go careening down the […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum
My Favorite Videos
A couple of years ago, I learned how to ‘rip’ videos from the internet and embed them in a powerpoint. That was the beginning of an era. I have wiled away many an hour on youtube, TED talks and other internet sites watching videos . . . one video leads to another and another and […]
Posted inFeatured, Middle School
EdCamp – The Unconference
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] It was an incredibly nerve-wracking half hour. The cafeteria was filling with educators. We would hit 130 in attendance before the day was done. However, at 8:45 in the morning, the […]