This year would have been my fourteenth year in the secondary classroom, but it won’t be after this week. With a brand new crop of freshly oriented students ready for the year ahead, I will be leaving them for a full-time professorship at the college level. On one hand, it’s a great opportunity – I’ve [...]
Three weeks ago I made the difficult decision to leave my school and accept a 4th grade co-teaching position at another public school just blocks away. When I came back to teaching after a year in grad school, one thing that had changed for me was a deeper commitment to build community within and outside my [...]
Formative assessment is using purposeful observations and information about students to move their learning forward. It enables teachers and students to understand their learning and have meaningful dialogue. This has been applied in classrooms through Kahoot! quizzes, exit tickets and quick thumbs up thumbs down activities. Formative assessment, however, has more power when it is [...]
While parents are clamoring away, eager to get their children back into the whole school routine, many educators don't feel ready. On the other hand, this teacher feels super pumped about starting a new school year. Is she mad? Has she lost her mind? What's wrong with this woman? Well, my friends, I am crazy. Crazy excited [...]
For some principals, the 2016-2017 school year will be their first time taking the helm of a school. Yesterday, we asked a question from a new principal to our 50,000 subscribers about what a new principal should NEVER do and here are the answers they gave: New principals should NEVER... talk data on the first day [...]