Remote Learning Is Creating Unnecessary Anxiety for My Students Right Now

Is everybody doing okay?  Probably a silly question, but I really wanted to check-in on my American Sign Language (ASL) students. It was day three…

Our Teachers Are Not Okay. We Know This, And If We Don’t, We Should

The last week was stressful for all of us educators, and the coming weeks will provide us with even more challenges, I’m sure.  This is…

They Didn’t Have a Chance to Say Goodbye

I have spent the week having flashbacks to a Friday in 2001 when I sobbed in my classroom. It was the middle of March and…

Every Class Has a ‘Unicorn’ Child, And We Have to Teach Them Creatively

I encountered my first “unicorn” three years ago. She burst into my classroom announcing, Hello! Nice classroom you got there. Oh … thank you. Are…

It Was the Worst Moment of My Teaching Career, And I Was the Problem

One of the best teachers I have ever known has a tattoo on the inside of her wrist of the snake from “The Little Prince.”…

More Than Anything, I #LoveTeaching for the Relationships We Build Along the Way

When I divulge to strangers that I am a high school English teacher, I am typically met with skepticism. “You teach teenage brats all day?…

Our Students Don’t Need to Be ‘Fixed,’ But We Can Heal Together

I’m sitting in my classroom, hunched low in my comfortable teacher chair. The lights are off. I’m rubbing my eyes and my temples in an…

I Will Never Again Teach at a School Without Dedicated Mentoring Time for Students

For many educators, January is a time to return to our jobs revived and renewed after the holiday season. For teachers at Rhodes Junior High…

Here’s Why My Heart Grew Three Sizes While Doing Cafeteria Duty

You know that iconic scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original, not that abominable remake) when the narrator says, “Well, in Whoville they…

Not Everything Of Value in Education Can Be Captured By a Number

WHAT WE GOT RIGHT: In trying to capture the story of a decade in education, the temptation is to focus entirely on what can be quantified, from test scores to funding. In looking at these numbers, it can be easy to fall into the trap of focusing exclusively on what has gone wrong in schools.…