[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”] When I became an ESL teacher I was not prepared for a lot of what happened my first two years. It is very true when they say that you aren’t really […]
Elementary School
An elementary school is a primary school for children between the ages of 5-11 and between the grades prekindergarten and secondary education.
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Kindergarten, Uncategorized
Refugee Students: Who will advocate for the UN-Common students who got Left Behind during the Race to the Top?
By Jennifer Healey Portland, OR The notion that ALL students can be lifted up and freed from their circumstances, past language barriers, out of poverty and away from war and crime and drugs, upward and onward toward a glorious middle-class future, is absurd. If we insist on being a country with an elite high school […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy
Summer Reading: The 50/50 Paradox
The paradox of summer reading: Read=pleasure or Read=work. All students should read at least one book this summer. Students should practice the independent reading skills they have used the whole school year. They should receive credit for reading over the summer, but to give credit means an assessment. An assessment comes dangerously close to committing Readicide,(n): The systematic killing […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Uncategorized
I Like the Idea of the Common Core Standards, But…
“The Common Core standards are not evil; however, the implementation and everything afterward is questionable.”These were the words of a teacher in training I led about one of the founding tenets of the common core standards, text complexity. As soon as this fellow educator said those words, the discussion changed from text complexity, to how […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Technology
Paper or Paperless Classrooms?
Ready or not, my rural high school is preparing to deliver 1:1 iPads to our entire middle and high school populations next fall. Furtive conversations abound in halls and at lunch gatherings as we debate the possibilities and traditional needs of classroom learning. There has always been a fine line between reliance on products that facilitate […]
Posted inElementary School, Kindergarten, Opinion
Dress Code Violations? Blame Disney's Princesses
Once the snow has melted, and mud dries up enough so wearing flip flops is possible, the season of dress code violations begins. Whether your school dress code policy is ultra conservative or lassiez faire, every spring, there will be one or two students, usually female, who will challenge the dress code with a startling vigor. […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Kindergarten, Principals' Corner
To The Depths of Darkness and Back: A Personal Lesson
Have you ever doubted you’re doing the right thing? If all your time spent teaching was actually worth it? If you were really having an impact on students? Does this profession provide you a way to light others’ candles? Or do you find you’re burning so much that you’re doing nothing but burning your candle […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten
The Hairy Hand of the SAT Reaches Far into Your Future
Many of my students fret about their SAT scores. I wish I could tell them to relax, that the score is just a score, and that they will never have to hear the words SAT again, but that would not be telling them the truth. The hairy hand of the SAT can reach far forward […]