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I deal with the most difficult of kids. In all of my years of teaching, I have been called The Pied Piper for Children’s Behavior and a Child Whisperer. But one thing that has never gotten easier is seeing seven, eight and nine-year-old children on medications that can eventually cause more harm than good. Read more here...
I remember leaving my classroom after teaching one of my toughest classes and crying in the bathroom of my placement school during my student teaching practicum. This was something that happened quite often. I constantly felt like I was drowning and I would often question whether teaching, in urban communities, was my calling.…. Read more here.
A fight breaks out near the gym entrance at the large, suburban high school where I teach. I see members of the Step Team that I advise walking from that direction and my heart sinks. I send up a quiet prayer. Please, don’t let one of my kids be involved. To read more, click here.
“Is the faculty meeting in the cafeteria, or the auditorium?” I ask two of my colleagues, who both give me smiles filled with bemusement.”We don’t have an auditorium,” comes the reply followed by a resentful chuckle….Read more.
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5 Things We Need to Know About The L.A. Teacher’s Strike
______________________________________________________________________ Due to the actions of teachers across the country last year, especially in Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Kentucky, many have called 2018 "The Year Of The Teacher." But 2019 might just see a [...]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Should Not Be an Inclement Weather Makeup Day
I was born and raised in Indiana, and I still reside in Indiana today. One fact about Indiana is at some point the weather will get bad enough to delay or even cancel school. When [...]
Having a Tupac State of Mind: Supporting Our Students that Grow from Concrete
“We wouldn't ask why a rose that grew from the concrete has damaged petals, in turn, we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun, well, we are [...]
America Already has a wall, it’s made up of teachers.
I debated whether to encourage my sophomore Global History students to watch President Trump's address on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Since 2016, it has been difficult to navigate how to incorporate civics and current events [...]
10 Teacher Resolutions for 2019
Happy 2019! I know that for most teachers the "new year" begins on the first day of teaching in either August or September. However, the calendar does not lie--2018 is history--it's January 2019, the midpoint [...]
Dissing the Family Crazies: A Christmas Story
Ahhhh… the two weeks teachers wait for that never seem to get here fast enough. I was so ready to be done with 2018 I had a collection of white flags hidden in my desk [...]
There are Thousands of Students Like Andrew Johnson Sitting in Our Schools
Dejected. Embarrassed. Defeated. Distraught. These are all the words that came to mind when I saw the video of Andrew Johnson, the wrestler from Buena High School in Atlantic County, New Jersey who was told by a [...]
Forget Allies and Advocates, I Needed an Activist
We (educators) like to think that we're advocates for students. I've even been guilty myself of living in the nobleness of the word. However, as our current climate (societal and educational) continues to toil with [...]
Teacher Attendance Does Matter, but I Still Unapologetically Take Days Off at My School
Yesterday, my fellow Indy K12 writer David McGuire Wrote, “Teacher Attendance Matters.” As a school principal, I know he is under pressure to ensure his students receive the best education. The heart of his piece [...]
It’s the Most Stressful Time of the Year- A Teacher’s Edition
It’s the most stressful time of the year With the kids tattle-telling And everyone yelling, “When will break be here?” It’s the most stressful time of the year. It’s the wack-wackiest season of all [...]
The Fallacy of a Picture-Perfect Social Media Life – and Its Effects on Education… or Us All
I don't remember the first time I heard the apocryphal story about Kyle, the nerdy 9th grader who evolved into the handsome, hunky senior who shares a moving story in his valedictorian address. Here he [...]
“They Already Don’t Like Us.”
A fight breaks out near the gym entrance at the large, suburban high school where I teach. I see members of the Step Team that I advise walking from that direction and my heart sinks. [...]
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