When people find out I teach high school, they often reply with some surprise, “but you look like a high school student yourself!” I sigh, they tell me I’ll be thankful for my youthful appearance as I get older, and we move on – but through these interactions, I am constantly reminded of the additional […]
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Posted inChild Development, Classroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
The Importance of Executive Function
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Do you have a student who just can’t seem to follow a set of directions, no matter how simple they may seem? Or one who seems to drift from one assignment […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion, Parents
Give Them A Hero- Advocating for Students
My family and I spent New Year’s Eve together, which may not sound like much, except that my three kids are 19, 17 and 14. I know they could have gone with friends, but they chose to stay home and ring in 2014 with mom, dad and grandma. I was so excited that they made […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
The Emotional Side of Teaching
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Well it happened last week. I sat down at my table at the end of the day after all the kids were gone, and sobbed. Not just the ‘I-think-I-need-a tissue’ cry, […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Principals' Corner, The New Teacher Chronicles
The New Teacher's Survival Guide: Creating a Support Network
This week marks the end of our first academic quarter. For me, it was my first quarter in my first year of teaching. For the past month or so, I’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed and, sometimes, burnt out. Recently, a colleague showed me this amazing graph of the first year of teaching: [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School, Featured, Kindergarten
Making Incentives Work for Students
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Let’s face it. We all work for incentives. Even as adults. We get a paycheck for a job well done. We search for jobs with good health benefits or with an […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
A First Year Teacher’s Lesson From Student Vomit
It happened, not two weeks into the school year. A student vomited during class. Now, this is something for which my teaching credential program did not prepare me. The cheerleader shrieked, the surrounding students rapidly pushed back their desks, and the room was consumed with student reactions and freak-outs. Meanwhile, Chad sat there, as if […]
Posted inNew Teacher Bootcamp, School Improvement
The New Teacher Bootcamp: Who Do You Listen to In the Building?
Being a new teacher is hard. You have to plan lessons, call parents, grade assignments, discipline students and somehow live your own life all within a 24 hour time frame. In the midst of all of your duties and responsibilities as a teacher it is routine practice that you have a team of people in the […]