Let’s start talking about shared core values, not common standards, please. My colleagues, my students, their parents, my own children… none of them are “common” or “standard.” This sentiment isn’t new to anyone who is serious about education and has done it for any length of time, or to anyone who has children of their […]
Featured
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Opinion
There Are Kinder Ways: Engaging Hesitant Students
Every now and again we have class periods that make us happy. The fun ones, during which everyone is engaged in the lesson, the room is filled with an infectious energy, and at the end you are sure that everyone, or at least nearly everyone, got the point. I had one of these classes recently. […]
Posted inFeatured, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
What is Complex Math Instruction?
I teach 5th grade Math at an elementary school, and I have noticed that many elementary teachers and instructional support personnel have not yet made the shift to more complex math instruction. The school in which I work is still trying to push small group instruction, where the teacher teaches a small group and the other […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured
The Conundrums of Teaching
Conundrum is defined as a puzzle, challenge, or enigma, and I cannot think of a better word for teaching. Teaching is a paradox, and every decision we make has an immediate impact and more often than not we wonder if we made the right decision. The Puzzle of Content. It is so unfortunate that teachers […]
Posted inUncategorized
5 Things All Teacher Bloggers Should Do This Year to Get Millions of Page Views
Four years. The crazy thing is that I never meant to blog full-time, but blame it on my neurosis, I’ve managed to get over 5 million blog views since 2012. 5,000,000 page views when I wasn’t even trying. <screams> In addition to the page views, I’ve managed to find some of the best teachers/writers to […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
I Make Students Cry
“No! You can’t do this to me!” Anyone that has taught an honors student has heard these words at least once in their teaching career. This particular student had a “B” on her report card. She plagiarized an essay and I gave her a zero. A college-bound senior knows better… or should know better. I […]
Posted inFeatured, High School
Embracing Change: A Teacher’s Journey Across The Desk
When I began at my school in the fall of 2010, change was already in the pipeline. The school was in its fourth year, growing at breakneck speed, and poised to continue to change for the foreseeable future. I was brought on to teach most of our upper grade history courses. This included classes from […]
Posted inFeatured
Why I Teach
By Guest Writer Amanda Elizabeth Austin, Ed. D The moment I knew I was going to become an educator was when I got to experience a service learning course during my last year of college where I volunteered my time at a local elementary school. This school was located in an area, which was considered […]