In a year of challenges, obstacles, and proving our own resilience, social-emotional learning in the classroom is more important than ever. Teachers are burned out by the never-ending changes being thrown their way, while every student is processing recent events in their own way. For some, this can become overwhelming or distracting. Moreover, students are […]
social emotional learning
Posted inCOVID-19
Opinion: The Teacher Stories We Tell Ourselves: Let’s Assume the Best
We (yep, all of us) are stressed. Students are swamped with work and desperate loneliness. Parents are at their wits’ end trying to keep their jobs, kids, and sanity afloat. Teachers are exhausted from the literal and emotional headache of online learning. Administrators are trying to balance the needs of their staff and students […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
4 Ways This Teacher Is Thankful
Teachers are constantly pushing. Pushing students to write better. Pushing them to read more challenging materials. Pushing them to make better arguments. Pushing them to practice their music. Then, when students master the task at hand, teachers find something else to improve. It’s implicit in the job. This constant drive to grow and be better […]
Posted inPrincipals' Corner
Principals, Students Need to Know You Care!
“They don’t care about us!” A middle school student shouted these words during a student town hall meeting. His classmates echoed his words. The teachers and I immediately went into a nurturing mode. We had questions. “Why do you think that they don’t care? What happened that makes you feel this way?” Suddenly, bursts of […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
We Teach Children, Not Curriculum
What happens when you feel more committed to the curriculum than the kids you teach? I’ve been thinking about this lately. It is my 11th year teaching, but it is my first time feeling immense pressure to keep up to a curriculum pacing calendar. For those who don’t know, a pacing calendar is a tool […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: The Neuroscience Behind Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood
Mister Rogers and his philosophy of loving our neighbors as they are has gained momentum over the past year, especially since the release of the biographical documentary film Won’t You Be My Neighbor? in 2018. What’s more, the trailer for the film “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers was […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
“SHOCKING STUDY: 40% of Modern Men & Women Are Unhappy. Here’s How Teachers Can Help”
Western men and women aren’t very happy with their lives. In fact, four out of ten adults regret the lives they have lived thus far. I’ll admit, I typically read these research papers and polling surveys with pronounced skepticism. Modern westerners often possess a hypochondriac disposition, forever focusing on what is lacking in life instead […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Empathy: The Key to Better Behavior in the Classroom
Empathy, for me, was always one of the best ways to handle classroom behavior. It came to me naturally because of the teachers I had in elementary school. I grew up in a housing project. This living situation was due to the death of my father just before my third birthday. In a time before […]