I awoke at 5 AM on Tuesday morning to log into the College Board’s website and obtain this year’s AP results for my AP Government and Macroeconomics courses. I spied the remains of a patriotic-looking Americana chocolate cake sitting on my kitchen counter, safely wrapped in aluminum foil. I grabbed a fork and took a […]
Posted inAdult Learning, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp, The New Teacher Chronicles
Dispelling Myths about Teachers
“Stop being such a martyr.” “All these teachers do is whine about how bad they have it.” “It is your choice to put so many hours in. No one is forcing you to do all this.” And my favorite, “You knew what you were getting into.” Yes, I write about the realities of education and […]
Posted inSpecial Education
How Far is Too Far to Save a Life?
The phone rings at midnight. That’s never a good sign, right? We imagine our relatives in a terrible accident, something gone wrong for our parents, or our children in trouble. But when you are a school administrator, you have to figure there is a chance the school caught fire, got burgled, or generally something went […]
Posted inFeatured
Managing the Oppositional-Defiant Child in the Classroom
Some of the most challenging students I’ve had to teach have been those with Oppositional-Defiant Disorder. These students challenge the behavioral norms in the classroom, often show low academic achievement, and lack motivation. Thankfully, there is plenty of research behind teaching these tough nuts to crack and lots of resources to help you figure out interventions […]
Posted inFeatured
Educational Consultants..The Case for More Teachers
We’ve all been there. An educational consultant comes into your school for professional learning and all you get is a glorified PowerPoint Presentation full of strategies you’ve already used that don’t work. You leave the meeting angry that once again forty-five minutes of your time was wasted just to garble up a bunch of acronyms. […]
Posted inProfessional Development
Travel for the Teacher: Better than Professional Development
As I write this, my family and I are preparing for a long voyage overseas. A few months ago, I learned that I had been accepted to the Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal. This series of workshops with famous writers is held in one of Europe’s most historic and beautiful cities. Perhaps even […]
Posted inFeatured
Summer Vacation Memes For Teachers
Summer vacation is here and teachers should be relaxing away from the craziness of school. As you relax and “rest up” for the 2016-2017 school year, look at these summer vacation memes and laugh. How many of us are unsure of the days of the week this summer vacation? Pinterest will be the death of […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Principals' Corner, Teacher Leaders
Teacher Resignation Accepted
Guest Post: By Patricia Wood August 2004- Jan 2016 Resigned. My teaching career is over. “Hey Mr. S, can I talk to you for a minute?” I poked my head into my principal’s office, hoping I could ask his advice. I wanted to know how to proceed on taking advantage of the unpaid family leave […]