Remembering Robin Williams, a Great Icon [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Like most of us, I was stunned to hear the news of beloved actor, Robin Williams untimely passing. It was a reminder to me that […]
Tips for Student Success
Posted inAdult Learning, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
Learning Styles Matter
As teachers, we know that not everyone learns the same way. Some people are auditory learners who do very well in a situation where the teacher lectures. Others are visual learners who must see something to comprehend. If you are a good reader you can succeed as a visual learner. If you are not a good […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, School Improvement
Doing the Differentiation Dance
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Earlier this year, my department administrator came by to do one of the four classroom observations she does each semester. We were at the very beginning of a unit so I […]
Posted inFeatured, Principals' Corner
8 Surveys For Your Stakeholders This Summer
I’ve failed to understand why teachers don’t survey students, parents, and community members more. Our line of work is one of the most interpersonal in the entire world, and yet we often leave our greatest resources untapped – the input from others. At the end of a secondary teacher’s year, they’ve spent what accumulates to […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Current Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, School Improvement
High School Recess: Should it be an Option?
Yesterday, our full faculty came together to discuss the pros and cons of our mandated advisory period held in the middle of the day. For 20 minutes, students check in with an advisor to discuss upcoming involvements in events, to conference about grade improvement plans, to engage in fun activities. I have a freshman advisory […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Opinion
AP Test Season: A Cocoon That Never Becomes The Butterfly
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Every year I tell myself I am not going to do it. This will be the year when I don’t work myself into a frenzied state of irrational dissonance from which […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics
The Case for Using Calculators
There are a multitude of opinions on the topic of calculators, ranging from: “I learned math without a calculator” to “what happens if children are dependent on calculators and there isn’t one around” to “children should not move on to higher level math until they can do basic computations mentally.” I am going to explain why […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
The Potential of Failure
This was it. I stood, sweaty and exhausted, as my band director walked over to the group of potential drum major candidates standing at the center of the field. Six of us had just endured a grueling tryout for the past hour and a half, but only one would be selected to be drum major […]