[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”] Schools have functioned over the centuries to reproduce the status quo and existing power structures – so how can we, as teachers, effectively resist that system while working in it? This […]
Featured
Posted inFeatured, Opinion, Social Studies
I Am a History Major- And I'm Okay With That.
Just recently I received a survey from my alma matter asking me to rate the department for my major. My major is not always a popular one, and one that had more boys than girls in it(which was a big deal at my school). I was a history major. The usual reaction I get from […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion, Parents
'Grown-Up' Problems in Our Kids' Worlds
[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”] I absolutely love this beautiful, fall weather! In Oklahoma, it seems like true fall usually lasts about a week, but we are being blessed this year with an actual season of […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Child Development: Five and Six-Year-Olds
Ahhhh…. The life of a kindergartener. These are, in my opinion, some of the most rewarding years to teach. These kids are full of wonderment about everything around them. Let’s look at the development of a typical five and six-year-old based on our five previously mentioned areas of child development: Cognitive Development for Child Development […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Fluency Fix-Up: Teaching Sight Word Phrases
As literacy teachers, we know the importance of teaching our students how to achieve appropriate fluency. Long before the Common Core, we were modeling, teaching fluency strategies, allowing students time to practice, and having fun with poems, Reader’s Theater, and choral readings. As students progress through the grades, the importance of fluency does not diminish, […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Principals' Corner, The New Teacher Chronicles
The New Teacher's Survival Guide: Creating a Support Network
This week marks the end of our first academic quarter. For me, it was my first quarter in my first year of teaching. For the past month or so, I’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed and, sometimes, burnt out. Recently, a colleague showed me this amazing graph of the first year of teaching: [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Middle School
Hooray for Neighborhood Schools!
I had the great delight of being involved at a neighborhood school in Chicago for over twenty years. When I first walked through those doors, it was as a parent and when I left a little over a year ago, it was as a teacher. It was like a dream, a really nice, I don’t […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, School Improvement, Uncategorized
Adventures in Coaching..Giving Effective Teacher Feedback
This year I did what many teachers fear the most, I went over to the dark side of school administration in the form of being an Instructional Coach. As I transitioned into this role,I thought surely that this would give me more time to reflect and “cool my heels” -things that I rarely were able […]