Surviving the First Year It was just weeks into my first year of teaching. I knew at age 22 that teaching would be the hardest undertaking of my life, but I didn’t realize how hard that would actually be. Now I was on my lunch break, and sitting in the small teacher’s lounge with my head hanging […]
teacher support
Posted inBack to School
Trying to Find a Balance
When you are a new teacher, there are so many small parts of teaching you have to figure out. And you get bombarded by advice on what to do. You’ve got feedback from your principal, tips from veteran teachers, and “best practices” from professional development consultants. You have to sift through it all and somehow […]
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 […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Time to End Students’ Need for Instant Gratification
When you were in your educational psychology class a few years back, you probably learned about instant gratification. This behavior, at heart, is when we pursue what we want, when we want it. Often, that means now. The primal need couldn’t be more evident in our school children – and it’s up to us educators to redirect it. […]
Posted inOpinion
You Probably Shouldn’t Be a Teacher If…
I can’t imagine having any other job besides that of a teacher. In fact, I think it is the greatest job in the world. But I definitely had my moments when I doubted whether or not I had made the right choice. And I think that I worked with plenty of people who had made the […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Encouraging Conversation About Teen Suicide
We’re just a few weeks into the new school year, and already communities are mourning the tragic deaths of students by suicide. From the public outcry of Daniel Fitzpatrick’s parents to the private grief of classmates, teen suicide plagues the school community. How do we talk to our students about the devastating realities of depression […]
Posted inBack to School, Opinion
Why You Should Take a Sick Day
I had a great mentor teacher in my first year teaching. We shared the same room, and as someone who had zero experience in student teaching, I really needed the guidance. One of the most important things she taught me that year was that I should stay home when I am sick. Taking a sick […]
Posted inFeatured
Essentially, I am a Teacher
I have been a dedicated teacher most of my life. It wasn’t until I was nearly 40 that I got paid to be in a classroom. I landed on my professional teaching feet in second grade room, my dream grade, at the school I wanted, with my mentor next door. It was a fantasy turned […]