“Ms. P, Merry Christmas! These cookies are for you!” My 8th-grade student then spent 5 minutes describing the weekend he spent with his mom, baking all their family favorites. He clearly loved the tradition and spending time with his mom. Remembering his excitement made those …
New Year = New You! You know you’re going to see that phrase all over the TV, your Instagram feed, and from well-meaning people in the next few weeks. As if the calendar changes and a new person comes to take your place. While you …
As both a student and teacher, I looked forward to Winter Break. (Probably even more as a teacher.) I always had big plans for the break. But somehow, most of that stuff just didn’t get done. Instead, I usually bonded with my couch. It’s sooo …
Working with my tutoring student Lyssa was a practice in patience. For me. I gave her a folder to keep all her tutoring handouts and notes. I think I saw it every once in a while, holding papers for her school classes. Sometimes I would …
You need to get work down. That book read for Lit class, chemistry homework, or studying for your Spanish exam. But everything seems to work against you, pulling your focus. You can’t seem to get any work done. What’s wrong? I live this every single …
As we happily say good-bye to 2020 and hello to 2021, I want to return to some of my top posts from 2020. While I still focused on study skills, organization, and parenting teens, obviously the events of this year affected my content. Some of …
2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year – there is no other way to describe it. Our routines were turned upside down, schools closed, businesses went out of business, cities burned in protest, and above all, the pandemic raged across the planet. I …
“Do you think a 5-year old would like this toy? Or maybe this one instead?” I was chaperoning a trip to Target with dozens of teenagers. Homerooms had spent weeks raising money and now the kids were spending the money on Christmas gifts for needy …
“Ms. P, Merry Christmas! These cookies are for you!” My 8th-grade student then spent 5 minutes describing the weekend he spent with his mom, baking all their family favorites. He clearly loved the tradition and spending time with his mom. Remembering his excitement made those …
In my favorite Christmas movie of all time, Clark Griswold wants nothing more than an “old-fashioned family Christmas.” Though he and his wife try their best to make the perfect holiday, it quickly goes off the rails and shenanigans ensue. Now that I have kids, …
We all know that 2020 is a year for the history books. One of the groups that have seen the biggest change in how they work is teachers. Like overnight. We owe our teachers big this holiday. Luckily, I have some awesome gifts for remote …
High school and college in 2020 certainly look different than in years past. Students are learning remotely or attending classes just a few days a week. Many extra-curricular clubs and sports are canceled or only meeting on Zoom. So many teens are isolated from their …
“Ok, what is gerrymandering?” I asked Kierra. She had stayed after school for extra help before the unit test and I was quizzing her on important terms. Kierra recited the textbook definition of the term back to me. “Right, but put it in your own …