Going into my 20th year of teaching I am just as excited as I was that first year. I remember spending that first summer in 1996 organizing my classroom, making curtains, and buying supplies. This summer, I am doing much of the same thing; but with a new twist. I have 20 years of experience now to guide […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Literacy, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Instructional Coaching 101: You’ve Just Been Hired, Now What?
As I sat at my desk and fumed all I could say to myself was, “I did not sign up for this. This is not how you treat others!” The longer I repeated those words the angrier I became and before long I was hurriedly typing away an email to my principal about my interaction with that […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, How to Fix Education, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
The Challenge of Getting to that Messy First Draft
She had been staring at her screen for fifteen minutes. My students were supposed to be writing the first draft of a literary analysis essay, but Jamae was clearly not making progress. When I initially saw her struggling, I asked if everything was OK. She just nodded and kept staring, so after a few minutes […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
7 Awesome Math Bulletin Board Ideas
Before the school year starts, you want your classroom decorated and neatly put together in preparation for orientations, open houses, and parent meet-and-greets. You may have your go-to ideas that you use from year-to-year or you may want some different ideas. If you’re a first-year teacher or just started teaching a new subject, coming with […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, High School, Middle School, Opinion
What I Wish My Students Knew…
Last year, a teacher asked her students what they wished their teacher knew and it opened the eyes of teachers are around the United States. We all keep things inside and the only way for people to understand us is to let them out and share because only then can we begin to see each […]
Posted inHigh School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Middle School, Technology
Blending Digital Time: Mobile Learning and Self Reliance
The shift in education towards mobile learning and self reliance has educators and parents grappling over the social dynamic shift in relationships between student and adult. Access to technology has transformed traditional responsibilities, and redefined cultural values which is alarming for some and liberating for others. The media tends towards a worrisome focus on the health of those with access […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Uncategorized
Who is Making Educational Decisions?
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] In all of the debate about Common Core and its related testing we are missing the real problem facing teachers and parents today. That problem is the placing of educational decisions […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
Love Us, Love Our Teacher Eccentricities
Teachers are weird creatures. We wear so many hats and flip back and forth so many times during a day that it can leave people we encounter wondering what kind of alien being has overtaken our bodies. Think about it: we save the most random stuff, come up with ideas off the tops of our […]