Ideally, by the fourth quarter, I want to be unnecessary in my classroom; I hope that my students are so self-sufficient that I can partner with them instead of lead and coach. To me, this idea is the mark of true learning; the control baton has passed from me to them. I need three-quarters to […]
High School
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
There are Kinder Ways: Engaging Hesitant Students Pt. 2
Last Saturday, I watched my eight-year-old daughter melt into a weeping pile of helplessness. It was her baptism. My husband’s side of the family is Catholic, and a few months back, she expressed a desire to be baptized. Even though I am not Catholic, I supported her decision, and we put the wheels in motion. […]
Posted inAdult Learning, Child Development, Classroom Management, Confessions of a Teacher, Current Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Middle School, Opinion, Parents, Professional Development, School Improvement, Special Education
The Mental State of Teaching
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James Is anyone else climbing into this boat and dropping anchor? I know I am. My life has been turned upside down since January with personal struggles, professional struggles and just day-to-day struggles that seem to be heavier than […]
Posted inUncategorized
Love and Hate for the 5-Paragraph Essay
When I taught high school English, I worked hard to help my students avoid and move beyond the five-paragraph essay. In fact, I almost went crazy trying to pull better-than-five-paragraphs-essays out of my seniors. I was apt to tell students, “you are stuck in a five-paragraph box! GET OUT OF THE BOX!” I swore I would […]
Posted inHigh School, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Social Studies, Technology
The Sensibilities of Mind Mapping
I was in attendance at a social studies department meeting reviewing how current curricula addresses Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements (PBGR). A disagreement occurred over the requirement of mental mapping as a performance indicator. Teachers accustomed to multiple choice and essay writing for common assessment could not discern what constituted a mental map. The recall of Venn diagrams, illustrated maps with inset boxes and character […]
Posted inFeatured, High School
Embracing Change: A Teacher’s Journey Across The Desk
When I began at my school in the fall of 2010, change was already in the pipeline. The school was in its fourth year, growing at breakneck speed, and poised to continue to change for the foreseeable future. I was brought on to teach most of our upper grade history courses. This included classes from […]
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5 Writers That Every High School Student Should Read Right Now
My favorite class to teach was (and will always be) American Literature. There’s something about teaching the sordid history of our country that gave me not only chills but opened my student’s eyes to the meaning of how literature can shape a country. In anticipation for my new group of flippant juniors who were counting down […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, High School, Opinion
Why is He in my Class? Dealing with Difficult Students
We all have difficult students and some are more difficult than others. I have never shied away from a challenging student. I have my “projects” than I am determined to save, even they don’t want to be saved because I believe every child deserves someone who believes in him or her. I am proud to […]