“Old” in my twenty-nine years isn’t much, I’ve gathered, yet when I think about the dreams I’ve had about my classroom environment versus the classroom I stand in today, you’d think it was a vastly different time, not a little over a decade apart. It is a vastly different time, I’ve learned. Vastly. Different. With […]
Posted inTeacher Preparation
The Moment It Clicked: A Teacher Candidate’s Breakthrough with Microteaching
It was a Tuesday afternoon in my Early Literacy Methods course. My students—preservice teachers in their final year before student teaching—were running through a microteaching exercise. The task was simple: model how to help a second grader tackle an unfamiliar word in a decodable text. One candidate, Emily, froze mid-lesson. She looked at her “student” […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Heart of a School Counselor: A Tapestry of all the Feels
The first time I sat across from a student whose eyes held more storm than sky, I knew this work would demand every piece of me. As a school counselor, I entered this profession with a fire in my chest—a fierce desire to cradle the hearts of students and lift the spirits of educators. I […]
Posted inMathematics
From Truman to Trump: Lessons in statistical humility in math applications
I created a class called “Math Applications.” It is designed as a course for students that have completed their math requirements but are not interested in taking pre-calculus or above. Before I teach any principles of descriptive statistics, I show students this famous picture of Truman holding up a newspaper titled “Dewey Defeats Truman.” I […]
Posted inElementary School
Creating Fourth Grade Changemakers: Learning to lead through service
A few years ago, we made a change to the curriculum that allowed for more experiential learning. We wanted to design a thematic unit that the students were in control of, from the topic studied to the final project. From conversations with colleagues, administrators, and community members, the class changemakers project was born. The fourth-grade […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
A Thanksgiving Conversation We Can’t Avoid: Education Under Attack
This year in education has been anything but peaceful. I needed this one-week break for Thanksgiving. In August, billions in school funding were abruptly withheld just as the school year began. On top of that, ICE has targeted students and parents on campus, with teachers stepping in to physically protect them and their families. Special […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Classroom Battlefields: The Nation Needs to Pay Attention
The nation needs to pay attention. -“Let’s sit in our bubble space.” -“The first thing we do is always the same, we pick up our pencil and write our name.” -”We don’t put that in our mouth; that has germs.” Ahh, the soundtrack of a typical first grade classroom. Many elementary school teachers are […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
When My Therapy Dog Became My Co-Teacher, and Changed How I Teach
The first time I brought my therapy dog, Little Dude, into my classroom, I expected curiosity, excitement, maybe even distraction. What I didn’t expect was how instantly he transformed the energy of the room, or how profoundly he would reshape the way I think about teaching. I had been volunteering with Little Dude through The […]