As a first-year English teacher, there were lots of questions that I hadn’t expected to have to answer in my classroom. The most surprising question, however, was this one: [bctt tweet=”“Do I have to read in this class?” ” username=””] Now, in my head, there are many sarcastic and snarky comments that I could think […]
new teachers
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher
I remember way back, last August when I was getting ready to start my first year of teaching. I was nervous but excited. Nervous, because I was going to be setting and enforcing my very own classroom culture. Excited, because I was and am passionate about the subject that I am able to teach. Looking […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
What I Learned About Burnout Prevention As A New Teacher
by Guest Writer Bailey Cavender As a first year teacher, I never really understood summer vacation until school ended for the year this past week. Sure, I enjoyed summer vacation while I was a student. It was nice to have some time to read books for fun or to watch a movie […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
The State of STEM in U.S. Schools
I just got back from an exciting conference about the state of STEM in U.S. schools, sponsored by U.S. News and World Report! As an AVID teacher and coordinator, I was invited to San Diego to learn more about how to include STEM into AVID’s college and career readiness program. STEM is an acronym representing […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
The Age Of Entitlement
When I first started teaching years ago I was gifted with classes that had almost 100% parent involvement. If I needed items for activities, my parents signed up. If we had classroom parties parents not only volunteered to organize them, but they also showed up to help. Over the years, this participation slowly declined. Parents were […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Whos, Whats, Wheres, and Whens of Teaching Grammar to Younger Children
I love to teach grammar to my second graders, and they are usually very eager learners when they figure out that the grammar they are learning ties in to the writing that they enjoy. I introduce grammar by engaging students in a ‘hunt.’ We are always searching for parts of speech, punctuation and proper sentence […]
Posted inFeatured
Taking The Plunge: Starting a School
When I wrote about starting a school four years ago, I never dreamed I would continually get a steady stream of emails from teachers who were either embarking on the journey or thinking of undertaking this huge calling to buck the system and branch out on their own. But here I am four years later, staring […]
Posted inElementary School
Using Board Games In The Classroom
I remember when I was little I loved to play board games. Growing up as an only child though, it was difficult to find someone to play with. I drove my parents crazy with Monopoly, Hi-Ho Cherrio and Sorry, then I moved on to checkers and chess as I got older. In the age of […]