I’ve always been a salmon among trout, preferring to take the scenic route and discover things on my own rather than taking other peoples’ ‘suggestions’. Having admitted that I can say that teaching with others hasn’t always been easy, especially when a team is involved who believes in a hierarchy among themselves. (Don’t get me […]
Posted inMathematics
Guided Math Pitfalls: Avoid these to Make it Work
The year I started guided math, I was in for a fun learning curve. Guided reading worked well in my classroom. I saw students making large strides and guided math was the new initiative. This was the year that I was going to jump into a more rigorous math class and more personalized teaching. I […]
Posted inElementary School
Getting my Struggling Readers to Thrive in the Content Areas
How do you get your struggling reader to succeed in the content areas? This was my dilemma as a fourth-grade teacher. I was frustrated for my struggling students. They experienced failure in almost every class because they struggled in literacy. I worked hard over the years to get every student to meet my objectives. With text […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Making the Dual Language Decision
We all know that communicating with parents is essential to being an effective educator, but when the majority of your students speak a different language at home, it becomes frustrating to have to find a translator for every single phone call. I’ve also learned, after numerous confusing emails, not to completely trust Google Translate. I […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Attention Right-Wing: Teachers Aren’t Promoting an Anti-American Agenda
On the eve of Independence Day, columnist Charles Krauthammer appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and stated that a waning pride in America is largely because “we teach our children about all the pathologies in the United States and very little about the glories.” To be fair, as Carlson acknowledged this precipitous drop in […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why What Teachers Read Matters
This summer I had the privilege of sitting in on interviews for a new ELA teacher in my building. In my fourteen years in the district, this is the first time I have been able to take part in something like this, and since the hired person will be my classroom neighbor and part of […]
Posted inBack to School
Going Bare: Forget the Pinterest Ready Room
I love scrolling through all the beautiful Pinterest classrooms and seeing just how beautiful a classroom can be. However, when I looked at my classroom, I saw it was never really Pinterest-ready. I felt a pang inside me wishing I had the money or ability to do this. I realized that I had something better. My […]
Posted inOpinion
From (AP) Hell to (Oxford) Heaven and Back: A Summer Confession
34,000 Feet – Somewhere Over the Atlantic I was utterly crushed. There is absolutely no other word to describe it. On the eve of my last day of a magical family holiday, I got the bad news. For the second year in a row my AP scores were disappointing…VERY disappointing. In the wake of last year’s […]