Are you a teacher looking to invite some extra excitement into your summer break? I have just the thing for you! Take on prepping two teenage daughters for their driver’s license road test. My number one (Charlie Chan speak for my oldest) is 19, and conventional wisdom would have most thinking that she should have […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
Amidst Declining Mental Health in Teachers, What Can Administrators Do?
In 2017, a survey conducted by the American Federation of Teachers and the Badass Teachers Association indicated that more than half of the teachers surveyed said their mental health was “not good” while a survey from 2015 showed that only 34% of teachers felt this way (USA Today, 2017). Unfortunately, amongst the many teachers I’ve […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
Teachers, Don’t Spend All Summer in PD; Practice Some Self-Care
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, Georgia for the first time. My boys really love aquariums, so we had planned to travel to Atlanta at some point to visit the Georgia Aquarium. When I heard about the Teacher Self Care Conference taking place in Atlanta, it was an opportunity to […]
Posted inOpinion
The Burnout Phenomenon: Getting Comfortable with “No”
In the last few weeks, a colleague and I have been discussing some recent feelings of burnout and exhaustion that we both share. As we delved deeper, we both came to the conclusion that in our personal and professional lives, at the moment, we’ve “bitten off more than we could chew”. We have taken on […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Politics and Pedagogy of Immigration Policy
The national debate over the Trump Administration policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border has reached a fever pitch. Images and audio of crying children, traumatized by the removal of their parents to detention facilities while the children are detained in what amounts to cages, have preoccupied the national media and gripped […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Quest for the “Perfect” World Literature Book
I’ve been on summer break for almost three weeks. I’ve done a lot in that time: visited my parents, worked on a county curriculum review, started reading some professional development books, etc. There is still data training looming at the end of my break. Such fun! I only have about four weeks left before pre-planning […]
Posted inAdult Learning
2018: Reflections on a School Year
It’s the Saturday after the last day of school for teachers. I am turning 58 today. I just completed my 34th year as a social studies teacher. Tomorrow is Father’s Day. Looking back over the past year and over the arch of my career, I want to write about the struggles and successes of my […]
Posted inOpinion
School Meal Programs: How can we be more effective?
Due to the high number of students receiving their nutritional intake from school meal programs, the U.S. Congress passed the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act. The act increased school lunch funding by $0.06 per lunch with the hope that more fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products would be served. It also paved the way for […]