When I was in an interview for the job at the school where I now work, one of the questions they asked me was what I thought about the importance of grades. My answer? Grades are merely a tool. They don’t always represent the heart of a child, or the effort that was put forth or where […]
Mindy Thierolf
I teach English in Kansas.
Posted inClassroom Management, Opinion
You Can’t Scare Me I’m a Teacher: The Truth About Lies
We’ve probably all seen those t-shirts or bumper stickers that read, “You can’t scare me, I’m a …..mother/ school nurse/ correctional officer…well in this case, you may want to insert the word “teacher.” Why? The premise to the captivating statement implies that we’ve seen it all, so there’s just no way you can scare us with […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Principals' Corner
In The Classroom: Is Yelling The New Spanking?
Having gone to school in the seventies, I can easily look back upon my experiences in the public school system and compare them school system we view today; other than a building with teachers, I’m not sure one would even recognize the two entities side by side. One major difference is the form of classroom management; particularly the […]
Posted inFeatured, Middle School, Opinion
When Cinderella Arrives
“I love it when the pretty girl crashes the party.” ~Kenny Sailors I don’t claim to know a whole lot about basketball, but I do love the sport. Whether you love it, or not or pay attention to it or not, no one can dispute that March Madness is a real phenomenon.  According to experts, […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Literacy, Middle School, Opinion
Trash Can Poetry in Motion: Teaching Outside the Box
I recently watched a segment on “Sixty Minutes” that featured an orchestra from Cateura, Paraguay, whose instruments were made entirely of discarded objects found in the local landfill…trash! The orchestra known as “The Landfill Harmonic,” or “Los Reciclados,” was created by Favio Chaevez and Nicolaes Goemez, and consists of a dozen or more children that […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Comma, Comma, Comma…Comma Cameleon
Have you ever read the book, Flowers for Algernon? It is the story set in the 1960’s of a special needs adult man named Charlie who undergoes surgery to increase his intelligence.  At the beginning of the story, Charlie can write much as a young child can write, but he does not understand the concept of commas. After the […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Opinion
Always. Ask. Questions. Always.
As a teacher, have you ever thought about the power of the almighty “question?”  Without questions where would we be as a society, as students, as teachers, as classroom communities? One day I found a website that listed the top ten philosophical questions of all time. The #1 question (of course) “Does God exist?”  The second […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
"The Weakest Link"
At the beginning of the brand new school year, I had my students create a chain by taking a strip of paper and writing their goals for the school year on one side, and their strengths and talents on the other. I then had them connect the chain together and we hung it from the […]