My first teaching job was at a very small private school, where I was the only English teacher for all four grades. I made very little money, our health insurance was threatened by financial woes, and I was severely overworked. I almost left teaching after my third year and I have been forever grateful for […]
Opinion
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Student Discipline: If the students ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy
I remember my first classroom. It was bursting at the seams with posters, fairy lights, rugs, artwork, and anything that I could squeeze onto the walls in hopes of inspiring students to want to learn. My sweet Guinea pig students were not only dealing with me trying to find my feet as an educator, but they also had to battle the distractions they were fighting in trying to pay attention to me amongst the collage of my excitement suffocating them; on all sides!
Posted inOpinion
During COVID We Ignored These Dress Code Trends, Let’s Ditch Them Now
When teachers and students got sent home in March 2020, one of the many school norms suddenly ignored was the dress code for students and teachers alike. My own children used to normally wearing, khakis and polo shirts, suddenly lounged in athletic shorts and t-shirts as they sat in front of computers, completed homework, and […]
Posted inSocial Justice
Really, Though, Why Do We Say The Pledge of Allegiance?
The Resurgence of the Pledge In the past, my school has been inconsistent about saying the pledge of allegiance. We’ve had it as a part of our video announcements with limited fidelity, and definitely not daily. I have only hazy memories of saying it as a student, perhaps on occasion in elementary school. This year, […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Students and Families; It’s Time to Retire Our Headsets
Several years ago, I retired as a volunteer firefighter. Soon thereafter, I put my helmet and my badge in a glass case. This year, as a teacher, I ended my last Zoom class. I then took off my headset and I realized that I’m going to be placing it in a glass case too. In […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Ending the Epithet “Try-Hard” Once and for All in Classrooms
“Stop being such a try-hard, Tina.” There are many words kids use to insult one another. Most of them are so bad I wouldn’t dare print them here. They’re also so wrong and reprehensible that teachers quickly swoop in and stop it. But for this term – the “try hard” – teachers just laugh it […]
Posted inOpinion
Teachers are the Real Superheroes
Teachers, the Real Superheroes Growing up, I thought teachers were the coolest people in the world, and second only to my mom. In my mind, they were the real superheroes that the comic book authors forgot to write about. In fact, I admired teachers so much that I ended up going to college to study […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Would Education Collapse If Teachers Stopped Working for Free?
On Friday, the science teacher on my team rolled past my door on Friday afternoon. In hand – or on wheels, rather – were 2 carts full of spirit wear that she and her student council members created, sold, and distributed. “Only crazy people come back to school on Fridays.” When our school’s nurse retired […]