Teaching is an emotional career. Most of us have larger than normal hearts because we love our students and treat them as our biological kids, so we care. A lot. My weeks have been filled with ups and downs and I have cried more than I have in a while. As much as I wanted […]
Featured
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
American Dream, Education Nightmare
Last night I had a dream whereby I visited the high school that my former middle school students attend. While walking up and down the hallways, I saw images of things that greatly disturbed me. First, I saw students who sat silently in desks and took tests – in every room of the high school. […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Teachers are the Light in the Darkness – how can we lead the way?
We are only a quarter of the year in, and I am already worn out physically, mentally and emotionally. Report cards are due and I still have grading to complete. A new nine weeks begins on Wednesday and I haven’t begun to implement my ‘step it up a notch each nine weeks’ procedure. I have […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured
Therapy Dogs and Schools
Remember the days of the old Charlie Brown comic strips, when Charlie Brown’s dog, Snoopy, was not allowed in public places? “NO DOGS ALLOWED!” were the signs Snoopy would read. Even though the comic strip was fictional, the sentiment was true. Dogs simply were not allowed in public places except in very rare instances. Since […]
Posted inFeatured, Series, Uncategorized
A Closer Look at School Choice: New Orleans
In part three of this series on school choice I am going to take a look at the all charter school district in New Orleans. Education reformers are touting this “experiment” as a possible solution to the problems found in districts with a large percentage of poor children and children of color. Superintendents from all […]
Posted inFeatured, Instructional Strategies, Social Justice
The Rise and Demise of the Sheeple
I have a rule in my classroom: [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”][bctt tweet=”If at least one parent isn’t worried or upset with my curriculum at all times then I am not doing my job.”] But Wait! […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School
Creating Utopia: How Kids See The World
This month, my students are learning to see the differences in the world. They’re reading The Giver, a dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry in the 1990s. The Giver relates the story of Jonas, a 12 year-old boy living in a community of sameness, a community in which there is no color, no differences, no […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
SUPERPOWER Schools
It happened. One day on a teacher in-service-workday, I was having a total meltdown, so on my lunch hour I went to see a 4th grade teacher-friend of mine in another school. As I walked through her building, I quickly noticed everyone was at lunch, and she was to nowhere to be found, so I decided to […]