It’s 11:49 pm on Tuesday night at my house. The kitchen is clean. The house is locked up. The kids are asleep, my dog is asleep, and for once, I can sit down and hear the sounds of nothing in my house. Yet, as I finally sit down in my recliner to try and grade […]
Back to School
What do you do to get ready for back-to-school? Do you buy more school supplies? Take a vacation? Or maybe start to decorate your classroom. Articles in this category deal with all the things that parents and teachers do to get ready for back-to-school season.
Posted inBack to School
Why Every School Needs An Equity Team
Yep, Teaching is Still Political As we get ready to start the year, the political tension of equity work is once again front and center. While Critical Race Theory is not banned in our state, the collective community temperature is boiling. In just the past few weeks, our district has experienced: A hiring and firing […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
ASK A TEACHER: Parents, You Can Decide Where Stimulus Money Goes, Here’s How
Now Is the Time to Join Your School’s Governance Team Here’s Why, and How to Do It The State of California is pumping stimulus money into schools like a kid pumps pencil shavings into the back of his desk. As a teacher, I’d like to see more than my union, or my district decides what […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Students and Families; It’s Time to Retire Our Headsets
Several years ago, I retired as a volunteer firefighter. Soon thereafter, I put my helmet and my badge in a glass case. This year, as a teacher, I ended my last Zoom class. I then took off my headset and I realized that I’m going to be placing it in a glass case too. In […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Fire the Canon: Curriculum is the Vehicle, Not the Destination
Fire the Canon: Curriculum is the Vehicle, Not the Destination It feels like every year around this time, the English department has a serious discussion about the curriculum. We start with valid PLC questions about key skills and standards at each grade level, but quickly devolve into how we taught specific canonical books and the […]
Posted inBack to School
Joining or Avoiding the Educator Exodus
To stay or not to stay, that is the question. Saying that the 2020-2021 school year was difficult for teachers would be an understatement. We navigated virtual learning, hybrid learning, transitioning to 100% traditional learning in some cases, all while being evaluated and fearing contracting COVID-19 in our classroom. I’m not sure what the qualifications […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Special Education and Social Distancing- The Struggle All Around
Erin Popper has been a Special Education Teacher in Florida for seven years. She has taught a wide range of disabilities in various classroom settings. She earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, FL. Erin’s extracurricular activities include, but are not limited to, coaching high school swimming, […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
4 Things Every Teacher Knows About High Stakes Testing
There are lots of things within the context of teaching that teachers will have a variety of opinions on. High-stakes testing is certainly a unifier for many of us. Here are four things that every teacher knows about testing that stakeholders and lawmakers should have listened to pre-pandemic to prevent some of the stress and […]