Your child has started to read a little. You are so excited and want to encourage him to read more. So you buy him books or go to the library. You sit next to him on the sofa and expect him to start reading away. Instead he gets stuck. The most common thing for a […]
Posted inFeatured, Professional Development
Before that last school bell rings: How to sustain yourself as a professional
The end of a school year arrives with both relief and trepidation for many teachers. Some are limping toward the finish line after a Spring of relentless testing cycles, struggles to get students to the point of mastery, threats of budget shortfalls, and general burnout from 60+ hour work weeks for the last 10 months […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
How to Build a Classroom Library on a Barely-There Budget
After attending a Penny Kittle workshop in spring 2014, I decided to set up a Reader’s Workshop in my twelfth-grade English class to radically change the reading/literature instruction. In order to do that, I needed a classroom library—an extensive one if I wanted the RW to work. The problem was I had 104 titles—many out […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Principals' Corner
Why Teachers Leave – and Possible Solutions
On paper, teaching seems like the perfect job. Summers at home, the workday ends at three, you’re off when your kids are off, and we get to work with children all day long. I mean, what more could one possibly want? As with life, things are not always what they seem. Teaching is hard. Parenting is […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Information in Google Doodles Build Background Knowledge
That letter “O” morphing on your search engine for Mother’s Day?That spinning Globe for Earth Day?Those jigging leprechauns for St. Patrick’s Day?These are all the Google Doodles from 2015 to celebrate holidays. There are also Google doodle tributes to individuals. Emmy Noether (physicist), Laura Ingalls Wilder (author), and Anna Atkins (botanist) have been featured in doodles this […]
Posted inFeatured, Instructional Strategies
Seeing Play as Privilege
I was standing at the edge of a large hole, collectively dug by four third-grade students. Two were continuing to dig, while one peered in curiously. The fourth student was collecting some kind insect larvae. “I’m going to take them home as pets!” He proudly proclaimed. With five weeks left in the school year, my school’s […]
Posted inFeatured, Middle School
What I Miss Over the Summer
At the end of the year, we are all “done.” Done with the kids, the administration, the testing, and even each other. The kids pushed us to a breaking point and we not only crossed it, but are holding on to the branch with only one hand. End of the year evaluations are coming in […]
Posted inEducational Apps, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Kindergarten, Opinion
Summer Planning and Pinterest
Pinterest. Love, love, love this site! And who doesn’t? Especially those of us who began teaching with toilet paper rolls and baby food jars or those teachers who need to supplement their current curriculum without spending a fortune doing so. But just like with any great resource, being able to benefit from using it is […]