“Gutted.” “Devastated.” “Abandoned.” These words, written in emails from my former students, express their feelings toward the news that my contract would not be renewed after ten years of service to the students and families in my community. I found myself “riffed,” a colloquial term for a reduction in force, or RIF–a storm that we […]
Confessions of a Teacher
What are the confessions of a teacher? Read these articles and find out.
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Tacos over Summer Professional Training
As a history teacher at Holland High School, I take pride in being organized, reliable, and a bit Type A. Throughout the year, I meticulously plan my lessons, activities, and everything else that I have going on while teaching high school students. I have spent the last 180 days giving 100% of my time to […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
ATA: A Teacher Asks… My Principal Betrayed Me…
A teacher asks… Am I being a butthole? Let me explain. For the past two years, I’ve looped with my students, first from 1st grade to second grade and then to third grade. My principal promised I’d follow them through 5th grade. On the last day of school, he called me into the office and […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Bearly Hanging On: My Final Week as Principal
This column is a series of fiction stories inspired by reality. We publish short stories written by teachers each week. This week, a principal recounts her last week before summer break. If anyone ever tells you elementary principals, have it easy in May, they’ve never tried to corral 600 sugar-charged children through Field Day, an […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Teacher Rage: Using Science to Transform Triggers
There was a long moment of silence after I’d turned around and hurled my chalk to the floor with great force, eyes glaring, lips bared, a growl escaping from between my clenched teeth. Chalk dust was settling on my shoulders, and my seventh-grade class was staring at me like I was a wild animal. The […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Dystopian Teacher Tales: Hero Teacher Stops Bad Guy With Gun
Although the following story is fiction, it isn’t as far-fetched as you might imagine. Without the US Department of Education or teacher union protections, many states may move to arm teachers in response to school shootings. In some places, they already are. Schools may also partner with associations and businesses that would not have been […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Dystopian Teacher Tales: Monday in Room B”
Today is Monday in Room B, and it’s going to be a doozy. The kids are a bit nuts what with Christmas Break coming up, and the mandatory state testing benchmarks we have to review. I admit that I could have gotten more sleep. I know I should have. Our day starts off pretty normal. […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Men need not apply to be a teacher
A stanza from the infamous anti-war poem ‘Boots’ by poet Rudyard Kipling is highly encouraged to be read in its entirety at a rate of two words per second, to match the sound of marching boots by the thousands of British infantrymen on their crusade in South Africa during the Second Boer War. What teaching […]