I walked into my classroom the first morning of Teacher Appreciation Week a bit groggy and bleary-eyed from a terrific weekend – a weekend not spent grading or lesson planning, but instead, spent taking long walks, baking, and digging in my garden. There’s nothing easy about teaching first period English in junior high school – […]
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Posted inAdult Learning, Child Development, Classroom Management, Confessions of a Teacher, Current Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Middle School, Opinion, Parents, Professional Development, School Improvement, Special Education
The Mental State of Teaching
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James Is anyone else climbing into this boat and dropping anchor? I know I am. My life has been turned upside down since January with personal struggles, professional struggles and just day-to-day struggles that seem to be heavier than […]
Posted inUncategorized
"Dear Future Me…"A Great Reflection Assignment for Students
If you are one to focus on the future or the past very much, you may want to know that there’s a website out there called, “Futureme.org.” With this website, you are able to write an e-mail to yourself and send it at a future date in which you wish to receive it. I wrote an e-mail […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Professional Development, Technology, Uncategorized
One-to-One Presentations=”Contextus”
Last month, I travelled to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to attend the 2015 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention with two fellow teachers to participate in poster sessions under the topic Digital Pedagogies and Approaches to Media. One of the poster session was titled “Every Picture Tells a Story” and offered by Catherine Flynn, the Literacy Specialist […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
When Life Happens While You Teach
We’ve all been there as educators; trying to teach, coach, supervise, or sponsor school events while life inside and outside of the school comes at you full force. Recently my daughter got married. She decided to get married in September, of all times. She is also a teacher, so I really had a hard time […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion, School Improvement
Why July is the BEST MONTH to be a Teacher (It’s Not What You Think!)
Oh July! How I love thee! The previous school year is in the rear-view mirror and thankfully getting smaller by the day. The next school year feels far off and gleefully removed; after all, a school year only becomes real when it has long enough tentacles to plant the birth pangs of stress in my […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
The Power Of A Teacher
I ran into my first grade teacher the other day while shopping. I knew that she had gone on to be a counselor, then retired a few years ago, after 30+ years of service. I would love to be able to say I told her what an amazing impact she has had on my teaching, […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
Let Them Make T-Charts!
Pity the copier. Stuck in the windowless corner of the teacher’s room, churning out page after page of quizzes, newsletters, and course descriptions. Probed and shoved and slammed, the oft maligned copier needs a break. What could teachers do to lessen the toll that results in the overheated roller or stapler malfunction? Stop the madness….there is no […]