This year, teaching is lonely. Like many other districts across the country, we are teaching and learning online for the foreseeable future. I desperately want to be back in person with my students, but our national leadership is more concerned with political gain than American life. Wearing a mask is a political statement, cases aren’t […]
Classroom Management
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
Battling Teacher Exhaustion: 5 Do Now Tips!
Every teacher comes into the profession ready to change the world one life at a time. Every teacher also learns quickly that changing the world is exhausting. 10 years ago, my buddy gave me a ride home from work. As I stumbled out of his car holding what looked like a metric ton of stuff, […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
“Why Didn’t Anyone Help Me?” The Truth Behind Abused Teachers Who Took Matters Into Their Own Hands
When the articles pop up on my timeline, I’m quick to click the link to each and every article that looks or sounds like this: “Teacher assaults student” “Educator and student fights” “Teacher fired after brawl with student” What I find to be interesting is that many, if not all of the teachers involved in […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Teaching High School In December: A Three-Point Survival Guide
For high school students, the month of December has lost its luster. There is no belief in Santa, and the elf is missing from its shelf. Replacing the holiday excitement is a mature appreciation of scarcity and disparity. Adolescents are a blend of intellect and naivety. Their eyes are opening to a world that they […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Three Changes to Make to Your Teacher Language This School Year
The way we speak to our students holds more power than we think. Our tone and word choice can either motivate our students or make them recoil in anger and frustration. The language we use can also be ineffective and won’t get us the desired results in our classroom. I realized I needed to work […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Why I Worry About My Students
There are a thousand reasons why I worry about my students I had a challenging group this past school year. Generally, my “teacher radar” runs in the background on low intensity-ready to alert me as needed. Off-task behavior or potential disruptions elicit a ping. But with this group, I had to be constantly aware of […]
Posted inAdult Learning
Teaching With Minecraft EDU
I’m one of those crazies that actually enjoy professional development workshops, at least the ones that we don’t have to do every single year like blood-borne pathogens and diabetes. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the best professional development: Minecraft EDU. This session was based on the popular game Minecraft but with an educational […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Self-Care Is Priority One for This Teacher
January is finally over. I swear this month had 974 days in it. After returning from Winter Break I felt as if I just could not keep up with myself. There is always so much to do and so very few hours in the day to balance everything. Normally this is when my really bad […]