It’s been three years since I’ve started my second stint in the classroom and without a doubt my favorite new practice as a teacher is home visits. Home visits create an opportunity for home-school collaboration that is hard to find any other way. Home visits aren’t a new practice, but they’re gaining more attention, and […]
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Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
How to Stop Zombie Students Dead in Their Tracks
Last week, I wrote about how disengaged students are like zombies. It’s scary how quickly the epidemic of disengaged, zombie students spreads when you don’t take appropriate steps to prevent it, but thankfully there are measures you can take to bring your students back to life without creating a mob. Prevention Imagine a classroom where […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion
Thoughts on Grading Part 1: To Give or Not to Give a Zero
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a district meeting, and we discussed grading, which is a sensitive subject. While we all grade differently, teach different ways and teach different grade levels (6th-12th), there is one element we all agree on- secondary students are not turning assignments in when they are due. I cannot […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Middle School
Math Teachers: Thinking Outside the Algorithm
Middle School math can be frustrating and challenging, especially when the teacher feels that in addition to reaching their own learning milestones, they must backfill the deficits students have when they enter the classroom. As an educator I have always believed that part of my job was to take my students as far as […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Why I Don’t Assign Homework
Homework: The eternal struggle of student, parent, and teacher. I see it all over my Facebook feed and Twitter feed. The lament of parents bemoaning the amount, the complexity, or the sheer ridiculousness of their children’s homework. Homework seems to be the bane of everyone’s existence, doesn’t it? Teachers hate grading it; students hate doing […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
10 Ways Disengaged Students are like Zombies
With all the zombie flicks out there today, I’ve started to become enthralled with the concept of zombies. I mean, how does a zombie epidemic start anyway? If you watch the movies and television shows out there, you’ll see that multiple theories exist for how zombies might come about, but there’s no research on it or how […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Maybe It’s Just the Wrong School
There are so many people who really hate their job. It is a simply a pay check and that is all. Teaching isn’t like that. It is truly an art and your heart pours into your job. Teaching is part of your soul and many of us would teach for free. Sometimes if you are […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured
A Closer Look at School Choice: Cyber Charter Schools
What are cyber charter schools? Cyber charter schools are online schools granted a charter by the state in which they operate. At present twenty-seven states have cyber charters. The largest number of cyber charter schools is in the state of Pennsylvania. All are approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Almost all are run under […]