I love putting up the Christmas tree each year with my family. We pull out ornaments the kids have created in years past. Gifts they made in preschool and beyond with fingerprints, handprints, or footprints reflecting a moment in time. They are a small sample of their physical self; growing each year. With the age […]
Featured
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Featured, Opinion, Parents, Principals' Corner
20 Simple and Free Gifts for Any Teacher
What do I give to my child’s teacher? As people of all walks of life traipse the store aisles this December looking for the perfect holiday gift, the teachers that give so much to your children occasionally enter your mind. Should you feel obligated to give a gift? By no means, no. But if you […]
Posted inFeatured, The New Teacher Chronicles
The New Teacher’s Survival Guide: 5 Crucial Habits
This is the final piece of a five-part series called The New Teacher’s Survival Guide. Start from the beginning here, with creating a support network. [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”] It’s hard, this whole teaching […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Uncategorized
Sandy Hook Remembered
The news is full of the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. The news is full of what hasn’t changed. True, some safety measures have been put in place. Some school districts have armed teachers, hired more security, or added mental health services. Many, […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, School Improvement, The State of Education
Education, Circa 2038
Twenty-five years from now, I will be just shy of 65 years old. I should be retired by then. As I read recently about Amazon’s delivery drone idea and at the same time thought about the seeming inevitability of the Common Core State Standards and their associated tests (even, eventually, in my non-CCSS home state), […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Your Decisions Matter – Thoughts for the Holidays
Every day in life you make decisions. Some of them are made in haste, quickly, in a split second. Some decisions are thought out and planned and discussed. Sometimes we eventually see results or the effects of decisions. Many times, however, we never know what effect a decision has had on anyone. We decide, react, […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Uncategorized
Snow Day Blues
Today is a snow day at my school, and I’m happy about that because I like to think and write. I love my job, and I love being around kids, but a snow day gives me a chance to stop and wonder. There isn’t enough time for wondering when you’re working, unless you’re better at […]
Posted inFeatured
The Joy of Student Teachers
[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”] Most years, I had at least one student teacher in my second grade classroom.  One of the joys of teaching in a large school system that student teachers come  abound if […]