I teach in the same building as my cooperating teacher from my student teaching placement in college. Mrs. Burcham taught me everything I know and apply today working as a Special Education teacher. Since I graduated, Mrs. Burcham and I have become colleagues by chance, friends by choice. We check in on each other during […]
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Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
A Letter to My New Student
To my new favorite student, Although I enjoyed my #TERSchoolFreeSummer, words can’t describe how I feel about meeting you and getting to know you this year. I want you to know that things won’t always be perfect. I won’t always be nice and bubbly. Sometimes, you may get the sour side, like a Sour Patch […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
But You’re Such A Strong Teacher
“But You’re Such A Strong Teacher” “But you’re such a strong teacher. I hate this phrase. As a new teacher, it took me a while to understand what this phrase meant. At first, I believed it to be a compliment. I thought it meant I was doing a good job in my classroom and with […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
For Teachers Looking for Summer Fun… Lessons From Teaching My Daughter’s To Drive
Are you a teacher looking to invite some extra excitement into your summer break? I have just the thing for you! Take on prepping two teenage daughters for their driver’s license road test. My number one (Charlie Chan speak for my oldest) is 19, and conventional wisdom would have most thinking that she should have […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
So You Want to Be a Teacher?
You need to really, really think about this. I’m not trying to scare you away; I’m just trying to prepare you. You can’t go thinking that liking kids, that kids liking you, that believing you can make a difference, that wanting to make a difference, that being smart-you can’t think that any of that is […]
Posted inOpinion
What a Teacher Wants: One Teacher’s View
What do teachers want? Within the last four months, there has been so much controversy in the education including but not limited to, a teacher who was arrested for questioning a superintendent’s salary, there have been multiple school shootings, movements to arm teachers in the classroom, and strikes. So what do teachers want? I don’t […]
Posted inSocial Justice
Teaching: Taking on the Moral Imperatives (Part I)
What moral imperatives? I have been thinking more about the moral imperatives of teaching. These imperatives can hinder instruction and progress. That’s why the only option is to address and hopefully resolve them. They are moral imperatives because it’s wrong to not handle them. Preparing students academically-now that’s the job, a duty. Consultants, education experts/leaders (folks who travel around and talk about […]
Posted inFeatured
Mrs. Brown, Should I Become a Teacher?
It is the end of a long school day when two former students enter my classroom smiling. My eyes are burning. When not instructing, I have been reading thematic essays. I probably need new eyeglasses, but my health insurance does not cover much of that expense. I want to keep grading because there is dinner to […]