As the 2020-2021 school year comes to a close, I am reflecting on things that went well, what to bring into next year, what to leave behind, and where I need to grow. I have three more weeks of school,
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Don’t Throw Out the Baby with the Bath Water
The 2020-2021 school year is coming to a close. Just like saying goodbye to the 2020 calendar year, I don’t think 2021-2022 is going to be a silver bullet of “normalcy.” I am hoping for some things to go back
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Covid Kids: Learning Loss or Immeasurable Gains?
I recently read an online post in which someone described their frustrating year, teaching from behind a screen. They shared that this was a “lost” year for student learning. Yet, I wonder if that’s true. Did our students truly slide
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Beyond the Standards
Most teachers, including myself, feel that standards are a significant part of the learning process. They help keep our students on track. They help us organize and develop our curriculum and our yearly scope and sequence. Students then take tests
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Save the Lessons
“Throw away the bad experience, but save the lesson.” – Frank Sonnenberg I think we can all agree the last year has been a bad experience. One that has forced many unwanted and unsolicited changes. Change is inevitable. Sadly, this
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Preparing the Gifted Environment
This COVID year has highlighted some uniques needs in my classroom. As we are naturally concerned about supporting the academic and social needs of our most at-risk students, I noticed little to no attention was given to supporting these same
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License to Lead
Who decides whether you lead? Is it your boss? Is it the HR department? Is it your particular set of physical characteristics—your gender, your race, your height, your looks? Or, is it you? I want to tell you a fun
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What Energizes You?
There was an organizational strategy I read about a while ago (I cannot remember where) that specifically helped organize the tasks on your to-do list based on the energy you need to complete it. You listed all the things you
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Splash Around
It’s warm, but the sun is on the descent. The tall grass is gripping onto the cool wind as it tries to come in off the water. The opening between patches of tall grass is a clear entry point into
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Seeing Each Other, Masks or No Masks
Co-written with guest bloggers Elizabeth Buchmann and Christina Bustos Tonight, we expect to hear whether our district will continue requiring masks in school or make them optional. The statewide mask mandate in K-12 schools has been revoked. Tonight we speak
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