Fairness is a battle that is fought in everywhere in the United States. As teachers, we teach about fairness and the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Being aware of bias and unfair situations in the classroom is something I always strive to be aware of and I hope to bring awareness […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
The Problem of the Chronically Absent Student
It’s not even a month into the school year and already it’s clear that my 7th period has a problem. Overall, they seem like a nice group of kids. They participate, they ask questions, and they are pretty easy to redirect if we get off task…but still, there is a problem. The problem is that […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
[Episode 7] The Pushy Parent
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Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
How to Stop Zombie Students Dead in Their Tracks
Last week, I wrote about how disengaged students are like zombies. It’s scary how quickly the epidemic of disengaged, zombie students spreads when you don’t take appropriate steps to prevent it, but thankfully there are measures you can take to bring your students back to life without creating a mob. Prevention Imagine a classroom where […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion
Thoughts on Grading Part 1: To Give or Not to Give a Zero
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a district meeting, and we discussed grading, which is a sensitive subject. While we all grade differently, teach different ways and teach different grade levels (6th-12th), there is one element we all agree on- secondary students are not turning assignments in when they are due. I cannot […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Middle School
Math Teachers: Thinking Outside the Algorithm
Middle School math can be frustrating and challenging, especially when the teacher feels that in addition to reaching their own learning milestones, they must backfill the deficits students have when they enter the classroom. As an educator I have always believed that part of my job was to take my students as far as […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Why I Don’t Assign Homework
Homework: The eternal struggle of student, parent, and teacher. I see it all over my Facebook feed and Twitter feed. The lament of parents bemoaning the amount, the complexity, or the sheer ridiculousness of their children’s homework. Homework seems to be the bane of everyone’s existence, doesn’t it? Teachers hate grading it; students hate doing […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School
Are You Using Interactive Student Notebooks? You Should Be!
Teaching full-time English and AVID found me drowning in papers – you know the feeling? A weekly stack of hundreds of papers to check off or grade left me frustrated, tired and unhappy most weekends. In an attempt to cut down on the overwhelming, mind-numbing amount of papers submitted to me by my middle school […]