I was a tad… high strung in high school and college about academics. Bless her, my mother regularly received crying phone calls from me when I got overwhelmed. Much of the time, letting me talk it out usually sufficed. But there were times when I …
I first realized something was wrong with teen sleep while student teaching. I taught 2nd-semester seniors (whoever scheduled that clearly hated me!) School started at 7:20 and I watched my students walk in with coffee, caffeinated sodas, and candy bars to wake themselves up. While …
“So, I’m going to take 7 IB classes next year, Ms. P”. Josh was a junior, getting ready to apply to competitive schools the next fall. There was NO need to take all IB classes, but he insisted. I’d taught Josh when he was a …
Have you attended a cattle call, I mean high school parent-teacher conferences lately? You have 2 hours to meet with as many teachers as possible. The teachers are all sitting at desks in the gym with the world’s smallest timers. Do you stand in a …
I taught high school Social Studies for 15 years. And for the most part, I loved it. Granted, there were days when I would rethink my life plan. I came home and cried because some kid had been so mean. There were times I was …
Every day I passed by a table full of lunch bags. Lunch bags that students left at home and their parents brought to them. The table was set aside for parents to drop off items that kids left at home – lunch bags, lacrosse sticks, …
“What schools are in the attendance zone for that neighborhood? Wait, we’re not guaranteed the school up the street? What the heck is an innovation school??” I asked all those questions while researching neighborhoods and schools before moving to Colorado. I spent a LOT of …
Teacher Appreciation Week is coming! As a former classroom teacher, I have some easy suggestions for last-minute gifts that teachers will love. This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and buy an item, I earn a small commission. This won’t cost …
“After the formative assessment, I differentiated the assignment, but he still struggled. Based on his performance in the classroom and his PARCC scores, I would recommend an RTI level 2 intervention.” If you understood the previous paragraph, you probably work in education. If you didn’t …