My middle grades teaching career began in August 2003 when I found a teaching job in line with the guidelines for the Master of Arts in Teaching alternative route to certification. My family moved from the metro suburbs to a rural community. Yes, we moved one day, and I attended a teacher inservice the next. […]
Posts with the coronavirus tag
Happy Hour
Educators depend on time and space for professional conversations and collaboration to improve classroom instruction. Often these collaborative efforts are planned as part of professional development workshops or professional learning community sessions. Yet, what we need even more are conversations that “fill” us when we’re tapped out. Some of the most meaningful, innovative, “light-bulb” moments for […]
When It’s Time to Step Away
Yesterday, I spent half the morning reading news. During the other half, I read student discussion board posts. This constant access to news and daily briefings pulls me away from other productive tasks – grading, planning, cooking, socializing. Then, after receiving notice that K-12 schools will be closed until at least April 30, I began […]
One Situation, Multiple Experiences
Education at home Each day this week, I have awakened with a surreal, unfamiliar feeling. It has been disorienting to realize in the few moments after waking that life is a different normal. We are in the very beginnings of an education plateau. No new, meaningful, strategic learning can take place without dedicated caregivers who […]