I awoke at 5 AM on Tuesday morning to log into the College Board’s website and obtain this year’s AP results for my AP Government and Macroeconomics courses. I spied the remains of a patriotic-looking Americana chocolate cake sitting on my kitchen counter, safely wrapped in aluminum foil. I grabbed a fork and took a […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inAdult Learning, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp, The New Teacher Chronicles
Dispelling Myths about Teachers
“Stop being such a martyr.” “All these teachers do is whine about how bad they have it.” “It is your choice to put so many hours in. No one is forcing you to do all this.” And my favorite, “You knew what you were getting into.” Yes, I write about the realities of education and […]
Posted inFeatured
Educational Consultants..The Case for More Teachers
We’ve all been there. An educational consultant comes into your school for professional learning and all you get is a glorified PowerPoint Presentation full of strategies you’ve already used that don’t work. You leave the meeting angry that once again forty-five minutes of your time was wasted just to garble up a bunch of acronyms. […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Principals' Corner, Teacher Leaders
Teacher Resignation Accepted
Guest Post: By Patricia Wood August 2004- Jan 2016 Resigned. My teaching career is over. “Hey Mr. S, can I talk to you for a minute?” I poked my head into my principal’s office, hoping I could ask his advice. I wanted to know how to proceed on taking advantage of the unpaid family leave […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Classroom Engagement: Signals that Work
It’s my favorite lesson to plug into the start of the school year. Before I start I want to say that, in the tradition of great teachers and great teaching, I totally stole this and then adapted it to suit my needs. This writing will deal with the idea itself, how and why I have […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Those Dreaded Words-“I’m Already Done!”
No matter how precisely I plan I always end up with a couple of students who finish some activities early. I used to say what most teachers say, for them to read silently, but I’ve never liked for students to read silently for very long since I don’t really know if they are truly reading […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Education Consultation: Passing on Your Expertise
I get emails all the time asking questions about how I started my own school, emails that I gladly answer, but usually end up going no further than an initial contact, for whatever reason. This weekend, however, I had the pleasure of doing my first full on-site consultation, face to face, across state lines, which […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
4 Questions to Celebrate Your School Year
As I write this I’m seven school days away from summer vacation. At this time, I’m filled with the usual mixture of emotions. I’m excited to recharge and relax. I’m sad to be saying goodbye to my students, while wondering if I could have done more. I’m anxious for the next year, wondering how I […]