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 […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Great Teachers Eat Apples: Building Relationships
Every year as school days come to a close and summer sets in, I find myself sitting at my teacher desk sifting through tokens of gratitude from students. From flowers and lotions to candies and heartfelt notes, families generously express their appreciation for the hard work and care I have invested in their students’ school […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
The High Expectations Myth
The high expectations myth is a pernicious, insidious mantra. It is the notion that if I, as a teacher, say and believe I hold high expectations, it is magically true. Examining actual teaching practices is neither necessary nor worthwhile. I have better things to do. Change or growth or flexibility aren’t needed. It is the […]
Posted inOpinion
Teachers: Partners in Suicide Prevention
On Friday morning, I turned on my computer and awoke to horrible news, that the beloved writer, chef, television persona, and person, Anthony Bourdain, had died of an apparent suicide. Coming just days after the suicide of 55 year-old iconic fashion designer, Kate Spade. Since the early 2000’s, I watched Bourdain. First, in “A Cook’s […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Types of Teachers at Professional Development Meetings
There are two types of professional development situations teachers find themselves in. There is the type that excites us and motivates us to be better teachers. The type where you immediately log in to Pinterest to extend the lessons you participated in during the training. Immediately you are on Amazon Prime ordering a book related […]
Posted inOpinion
Rat Infestations, Permanent Voice Damage, & Grieving In the Classroom : Reflections on the Absolute WORST YEAR of My Teaching Career
This has been the absolute worst year of my teaching career. By far . . . It started too early—much too early. Our teacher meetings began on August 14th. Whatever, you may ask fellow teachers, ever happened to the Tuesday after Labor Day serving as the year’s genesis? Anyone who has spent any time in […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
I Wish My Teacher Knew: Beneath the Surface
In April of 2015, Colorado teacher Kyle Schwartz facilitated a writing activity in her third-grade classroom she called “I Wish My Teacher Knew.” Schwartz prompted students to complete the sentence “I wish my teacher knew…” with their own truths, hoping to understand her students on a deeper level. The activity yielded heart-wrenching responses from “I […]
Posted inAdult Learning
American Values In the Classroom and Community: Where do we stand as a nation today?
As a teacher and American citizen, it is difficult to discern what values we stand for as a nation today. It seems that our government has blurred the lines between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, equality and discrimination, and honesty and scandal. In the pendulum swing from the “post-racial” Obama years to the quasi-authoritarian […]