She was running late for the departing Friday bus. I saw her as she laid there on the floor, sobbing, as other staff members patiently held 100 buses to send the nearly 800 students home for the weekend. “I want my mommmmmmy!” She wailed, with the tears waterfalling down her face. Here lay the sister of […]
Confessions of a Teacher
What are the confessions of a teacher? Read these articles and find out.
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
I Left The Classroom for A Central Office Job…This is My Letter to My Former Students
Dear Students, I didn’t leave because of you. I don’t love you any less. I won’t stop thinking about you or missing you or hoping you are well. You know how much I love you. I won’t stop wondering about how you are doing or forget your sweet faces or devious antics. I can’t imagine life […]
Posted inBack to School
From Book Tastings to Blind Dates: How to Encourage a Love of Reading in Secondary Classrooms
As a first-year English teacher, there were lots of questions that I hadn’t expected to have to answer in my classroom. The most surprising question, however, was this one: [bctt tweet=”“Do I have to read in this class?” ” username=””] Now, in my head, there are many sarcastic and snarky comments that I could think […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
Teaching in a Post-Union World
The week before school begins, our education association is fortunate enough to sit down with the new educators hired in our district and encourage them to sign-up for our association. While this seemed pretty cut-and-dry when I was first hired 10 years ago, the discussion has rapidly changed and the difficulty increased. As more educators […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Toxins in the Break Room: How Teacher Appreciation Sabotages Teacher Health
Walking past the teacher break room, I peer in and see platters of sweet treats, both homemade and store-bought intended to show love and appreciation for hard-working teachers. It is lovely, really. Administrators and parents took the time and effort to bring these treats into school to celebrate our hard work and welcome us back […]
Posted inElectives & Special Areas
Teaching the “I Can’t” Student
People are raised hearing all kinds of information about themselves from those around them. From a young age, we overhear the conversations our parents have about how great we are at sports, how academically gifted we are, or the kinds of things we struggle with. This constant narration of our strengths and downfalls begins to […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Teachers Fueled by Student Success
I had a student observer this past spring who asked me “how we do it?” She wanted to know how, in spite of all the stuff thrown our way – the attacks on the profession, the teachers, the union, the pension, the lifestyle, the politics, the “part-time worker” status, the lack of results – and […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher
I remember way back, last August when I was getting ready to start my first year of teaching. I was nervous but excited. Nervous, because I was going to be setting and enforcing my very own classroom culture. Excited, because I was and am passionate about the subject that I am able to teach. Looking […]