Something happened to me the past week that I’ve never experienced in my years of teaching: I had one student accuse another student of touching him inappropriately. You can only imagine the chaos that has ensued over the past week and a half, and we still don’t have a resolution to this difficult situation. Because I own my […]
From the Front Lines
Yes, You Do Have to Help Everyone
Yes, you do have to help everyone. I cannot tell you deeply it irks my soul when teachers give up on kids. Of course, if you asked them, they would insist that they haven’t given up. I disagree. Being willing to help a student who asks for it is not enough. It is not enough […]
Protesters Were Wrong to Block Betsy DeVos From School
One of the continuing traditions of my classroom is to display 100’s of inspirational and thought provoking quotes. And one of the quotes I have on that border is by famed Chicago journalist Sydney J. Harris, who says, “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” While I’ve had more than my […]
Distrust of Facts Highlights Need to Return to Primary Sources
“Get your facts first,” quips satirist Mark Twain. “Then you can distort them as much as you please.” These words were first put to print in an 1899 Rudyard Kipling interview of the timeless sage, but they could have just as easily been written yesterday. In an era where the news makers are jabbing back […]
More Rural Schools Journal: The Sick Day
On a recent Thursday afternoon, I decide to take a sick day. I just called for a sub to cover my duties tomorrow. I’m taking a “sick day.” My youngest, (of the three girls I have written so much about in the past) didn’t really want to go to school this morning, was clearly feeling […]
Are You a LUCKY Teacher? Take This Quick Quiz to Find Out
My students and co-workers probably get tired of hearing me say it year after year. But I mean every word of it: I am the luckiest teacher I know. Most days there is nowhere in the world where I would rather be than in my classroom with my students, teaching a subject that I revere, on […]
A Dear John Letter to My Career in Education
Dear Education Career, It’s been a great 15 years, and I thank you but it’s time for me to go now. I remember when we first met back in college. You were so enticing; working with kids, the other professionals dedicated to making a difference, empowering change and knowledge in a strong field. When I […]
The Hardest Parts Of Teaching
These are the hard parts of teaching: Waking up from a nightmare where you’re out of breath and can’t find your classroom and are teaching in a foreign language to a group of kids who could care less about being there and you wonder, when you wake up, how that part of your fears will […]