People are raised hearing all kinds of information about themselves from those around them. From a young age, we overhear the conversations our parents have about how great we are at sports, how academically gifted we are, or the kinds of things we struggle with. This constant narration of our strengths and downfalls begins to […]
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Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
38 Days a Teacher: Leadership, Followership, and Fellowship
I found myself standing in front of 27 students, my first day as their teacher, the Monday after Thanksgiving. I was brought in as their Spanish teacher to pick up the pieces after their previous teacher ran screaming into the night, unable to deal with the behaviors and diverse academic needs of the 130 students […]
Posted inInstructional Strategies
Relationships Matter: How Building Trust Boosts Classroom Performance
No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. — James Comer Take a moment to think about this James Comer quote. No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. In other words, learning is about relationships. But if that’s the case, we’d better get to work on that, right? Or does that relationship begin to build from day […]
Posted inOpinion
Homeschooling: Making Education Natural Again
This year has been one of change for me. In January, I left teaching to follow a dream and move with my family to an ecovillage in rural Missouri. Since then, we have been homeschooling our two kids. When we were telling my family about our decision to leave mainstream life behind, they were – […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Six Reasons Why Tests Suck
I’ve probably given hundreds of tests during my career, but the truth is, if I had the choice, I would never give my ELA students tests of any kind. This is one of those things that has sort of snuck up on me over the years. For example, I used to give a test on […]
Posted inCommon Core
Have You Been To A #GAFE Summit?
I’ve been teaching for 26 years – English, AVID, Yearbook, Reading, History and any sort of intervention class that gets thrown my way. I’ve been through whole language and back. I’ve survived NCLB. I’ve been trained in teaching the Gifted and Talented, the At-Risk and 21st-century students. And last weekend, I went to my first […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
By Not Allowing Your Children to Fail You Are Making Their Brains Smaller
Dear Parent or Guardian: This letter is to inform you that your student will likely fail soon. They might not fail a class, or even a quiz or a homework assignment, but they will fail at something. They will also make mistakes, get feedback on those mistakes, and then make some new mistakes. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ […]
Posted inInstructional Strategies
Seven Steps to a Fresh Start for your Class
You started off with the best of intentions—a clean desk, new notebooks, resolutions for the new school year—but things are already turning sour. Students aren’t working the way that you’d like them to, lessons have flopped, you are having discipline and classroom management issues. Your classes feel chaotic and out of control, and you are […]