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 […]
Opinion
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 inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
10 Ways Disengaged Students are like Zombies
With all the zombie flicks out there today, I’ve started to become enthralled with the concept of zombies. I mean, how does a zombie epidemic start anyway? If you watch the movies and television shows out there, you’ll see that multiple theories exist for how zombies might come about, but there’s no research on it or how […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Maybe It’s Just the Wrong School
There are so many people who really hate their job. It is a simply a pay check and that is all. Teaching isn’t like that. It is truly an art and your heart pours into your job. Teaching is part of your soul and many of us would teach for free. Sometimes if you are […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
When Life Happens While You Teach
We’ve all been there as educators; trying to teach, coach, supervise, or sponsor school events while life inside and outside of the school comes at you full force. Recently my daughter got married. She decided to get married in September, of all times. She is also a teacher, so I really had a hard time […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Thoughts You Had While Grading…
“I just can’t wait to go home and grade papers!” Not. Grading isn’t my favorite thing to do when I get home, but I just cannot seem to get any grading done during my prep period, so sadly, it all comes home. I really do not grade for hours during the week, but on Sundays […]
Posted inHigh School, Opinion
Teaching is Such a Racket
As an educator in a close knit community, I am an easy target for disgruntled community members. I would love to believe that people flock to me the way they might flock to an adored film or rock star that first week of school. Occasionally parents will stop me to tell me about the success […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Languages, Opinion
My Experience with TNCore – the Tennessee State Standards
Tennessee’s State Department of Education adopted standards labeled TNCore, modeled after the controversial Common Core. As an English and Language Arts (ELA) teacher of nine years, I would like to share my experiences with these standards at the high school level. Common Core (CC) was created with good intentions. Its creators wanted to ensure that […]