We all have stories that live in our hearts. Stories we come back to over and over again for inspiration, comfort, and assurance that we do make a difference. Stories that represent and remind us of the love we have for our students, for our profession. One of my favorite stories is from early in […]
High School
Yes, Failure IS An Option
We’d be hard pressed to find an innovation that has changed our modern living as much as the light bulb. When Thomas Edison and his employees experimented with methods to bring about an incandescent light, they finally arrived – almost by accident – on using a cardboard filament. After its success, he famously quipped “I […]
Six Books for Secondary Teachers on Teaching Students to Read
Teaching how to read used to be considered the job of elementary teachers. They would teach the students to read; secondary teachers would teach students literature assuming students know how to read it. However, it has become clear that teaching students how to read doesn’t end when students enter junior high school. In fact, since 50% of […]
The Power of the Right Read
The power of the right read is indisputable to me. It always has been. I mean, I LOVE to read. I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. Even as a teenager, living in a foreign country, I read religiously. And I have always believed that the right book can […]
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 […]
Teenage Girl Drama: Breaking The Everlasting Gobstopper
The film Mean Girls is a lesson for anybody teaching, living with, or raising teenage girls. It’s no doubt that the line between being “popular” and being “Plastic,” as the 4 main characters are satirized, is a fine one. And, without some adult intervention, it can become an everlasting gobstopper that chokes out the functioning of […]
Gatsby for the 21st Century Student
I told my Freshman High School English teacher that even though I loved to read, I didn’t care for English class because we never read anything “cool.” A year later, I returned to her classroom to recant my previous statement. I fell in love with English class when I read The Great Gatsby. As a […]
How To Teach Creativity In A Test Driven Culture
I am blessed to have what many other teachers don’t: autonomy. A 2014 Forbes article listed the top 10 skills wanted by employers: ability to work in a team structure, the ability to make decisions and solve problems, the ability to communicate, the ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work; and the ability to obtain and process […]