A neighbor complains every time it snows. It doesn’t matter if it’s a feathery amount or a foot — to him, the impediment of snow is too much to handle. He hates the shoveling. He hates the noise of the snowblowers. He hates driving in it. He hates the cold. He hates teleworking. The list […]
Pandemic Pedagogy
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Building a Plane While Flying, Lessons Learned from a Hybrid Teacher and His Student Teacher
In our district, it has become obvious that a return to what school once was will now come in phases. And that means an interim period where we are, as my principal recently remarked, building a plane while also flying it. My student teacher and I departed that flight in phase one of our district’s […]
Posted inCOVID
A Student in my Class Has COVID, Now What?
Like most teachers, I had been managing to keep a level head regardless of the immense pressure I am under in today’s classroom climate. Doing my best to provide quality virtual, hybrid instruction; remain positive and upbeat for my students; and having an overall optimistic demeanor in the face of a deadly pandemic. So naturally, […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Compassionate Teaching is Key Especially During This Pandemic
Over the past few months, I’ve been noticing tweets from users about their teachers and their online class experiences. These two stood out to me in particular: teachers be like "i know these are troubling times" then be the trouble during the times — Jeffery Perkins (@JefferyxBball) November 29, 2020 A student just wrote “My […]
Posted inCOVID-19
How Reverse Halloween Helped My Students Feel Connected to Me As Their Teacher
If I’m being honest, not everyone understood the concept of reversing Halloween at first. But I was convinced the theory was sound. And perhaps because I’ve known how disconnected my own daughter feels, I’ve tried to find creative ways to connect with families. I’ve formed friendships with dogs, left a lot of things on doorsteps. […]
Posted inCoronavirus, COVID, COVID-19
Shaking, Sanitized Hands: Building New Student Relationships while Grieving Old Ones
My hands were shaking as the bell rang for the first day of the 2020-2021 school year. I know it sounds cliche to say that my hands were shaking. Everyone writes that their hands were shaking to indicate nervousness but I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that my hands were literally shaking so hard […]