[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] My sixth year of teaching is behind me now, and like every year, I’m thinking about what to celebrate and where I need to grow next year. Each day I come home from […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Professional Development, School Improvement
How to Totally Rock a Teaching Interview
If you’re looking for a new job, you know that the toughest part about finding a new job is the interview process. It’s intimidating enough to interview with just one person, but you’ll find that as a teacher, you’ll almost always interview with a panel of people. Unless you totally rock it, this teaching interview […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School, Social Studies
Critical Thinking, Morality, and 'Middle Passage'
The issue of slavery is a deeply rooted social foundation that has been toiled with for generations. Educators, particularly those teaching high school, are charged with helping their students understand how the existence of such a morally reprehensible institution was even possible. As adolescents, these young students struggle developmentally to decompartmentalize a happening such as […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Keep Kids Writing All Summer
Summer Learning Loss is the bane of every teacher’s existence. We work tirelessly to teach students reading and writing strategies, grammar concepts, vocabulary building techniques, critical thinking skills, and more and it seems that by September they have forgotten what  Venn Diagram is and how to find a noun. I know I do endless work […]
Posted inCommon Core, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Celebrating the Genres in Anne Frank's Diary
 Anne Frank: The Diary of  Young Girl transcends the labels of genre. Yes, as the title suggests, it is a diary, but it is also a memoir, a narrative, an argument, an expository journal, an informational text, and much more. Yet, these genres listed are treated as separate and distinct in the reading and writing standards of the Common Core (CCSS). The […]
Posted inHigh School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Surviving those Five Stages of Writing Curriculum
Who wants to rewrite curriculum this summer? (Anyone? Anyone?…..) Let’s be honest. Writing  or rewriting curriculum is a ongoing process that, while necessary, is not always seen as the most positive experience. Moreover, the suggestion of spending summer days writing curriculum (paid or unpaid) may trigger range of emotions, some strangely akin to the model offered by Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Technology
Take Your Apps Outside
I grew up in the 80’s with Atari, pong, and floppy discs. Â I learned to code on a computer that actually took a tape. Â I love technology and even though I have been in the classroom for 19 years I try to stay current. Â There is something about “old school” though. Â Holding a book in […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Languages
Tips for Choosing a Novel to Study
Teaching literature can be rewarding. Sadly, it’s an activity that can fall by the wayside as teachers weigh other standards, but it need not to for the sake of our society.  Already very few students in their early teens read daily as cited by Nancie Atwell. While we cannot ensure that our students read every […]