November 2022 - STORIES FROM SCHOOL AZ

Pack Your Conference Bags!

November 30, 2022Sara Mora Education, Professional Development, Uncategorized

Today I didn’t follow my usual routine of driving to school with my son. Instead, I dropped him off and headed to the airport. I’m going to Las Vegas for a teacher conference! Specifically, I’m headed to the ACTE Visions

Let me tell you bout’ my best friend

November 28, 2022Rebecca Brinkman Education, Life in the Classroom, Love

During math period one morning, my third graders were working on solving a division problem with repeated subtraction. After spending time discussing the strategy and how to work through a problem, I let them know they would have a chance

A metallic aluminum bucket which is silver or ash in color

Grief and Gratitude

November 23, 2022Ashley Yap Current Affairs, Life in the Classroom

Three weeks ago, a student experienced a health crisis incident and died on our campus. It happened in our busy central courtyard a few minutes before classes started for the day. I didn’t know him myself, but the teacher next

You Can Say No

November 23, 2022Eriann Roberts Education, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, Teacher Leadership

“You can say no.” This is the advice that I give to all new teachers. It’s okay to not take on every “opportunity”. It’s okay to say that you don’t have the time to give that “project” 100%. IT’S OKAY.

Classroom Support

November 23, 2022Sarah Kirchoff Education, Elementary, Life in the Classroom

“Can you come in and show me what it is supposed to look like?” (new ELA curriculum) – 4th-grade teacher “Sure thing, let’s set up some time together so I can come into your room and go through that with

Dashboard Warning System?

November 22, 2022Lynna Schiller Life in the Classroom

Teachers should have warning lights similar to those found on a car’s dashboard system. I drove my husband’s car out of town this past weekend; at one point it flashed a light in the dashboard and a message popped up

Period subbing in a secondary school setting in the state of Arizona is sort of inevitable right now. When I first started teaching, we had a few consistent middle school substitutes but they are becoming extremely rare. There are weeks when I feel like my only role is a prep hour substitute. Substitute teachers are amazing humans and my respect and admiration has grown so much for them. Here are some thoughts that came to mind one week as I subbed each and every prep hour I had: Will I be able to find that room number in the 3 minutes I have to get there before class begins? Can I pronounce all of their names correctly without the room full of giggles if I don’t? Will I be able to read the 12 point font on the sub plans that I get to see as soon as I walk in the door and manage the 30 plus middle schoolers at the same time? I’ve been up since 3 am when I received the email that I would have to period sub and my anxiety is out of control. Will I be able to get my lesson and materials ready for the lab in my science class the next day without having any prep and meetings after school? It has been weeks since I’ve graded anything. But I really don’t want to take it home and miss out on family time. When can I grade? Will I be able to eat lunch, go to the bathroom for the only time I have to myself in the day, fill up my water bottle, and work on my Google Slides for tomorrow in the 20 minutes I have for lunch by the time I get the students out of the hall to lunch since I don’t have prep today? Will my brain be able to rest at all today? I feel overstimulated. Will I be able to run back to my classroom in the 4 minute pass period to reset up my own classroom for my own lesson? Can I manage my pulse taking care of 30 plus new- to- me students for an hour? Wait, I’m subbing for PE? Spanish? Sign Language? Will I hopefully see some of my past 6th graders in the 7th or 8th grade class I’m subbing for today? I could keep going, but those were all genuine thoughts I had that week at various times throughout the day. I left it on a positive note with the last one, but as you can see most of these thoughts make me very anxious. As a teacher we cherish any amount of time we get to plan, prep, and grade at school and not at home. I also get so nervous to teach new classes I’ve never subbed for and don’t feel confident in. To give you hope if you find yourself constantly period subbing as well, I have a few tips I’ve picked up to at least make the subbing a little easier. Give up on perfection for you and the students you are guest teaching. I’m fair and consistent with my expectations, but I don’t ever expect the class to go perfectly. I don’t have all of the answers or knowledge I need to teach some of these classes and that’s okay! Walk in with a SMILE! If you go into that classroom full of rules and a grumpy attitude, you’ve already lost the classroom management game. Get to know them and form a relationship with them! Chances are you are going to sub more than once for that class throughout the year. You might as well make it as positive an experience as possible. Have a little prep sub basket ready to grab on your way out the door. In my basket I have extra paper, pencils, sticky notes, a schedule so I know what time to release them, and I usually put my laptop in there before I walk out with it. Be ready for anything! Ask your students to help make the process earlier! The class before I have prep period subbing helps me to close my doors as we are on the way so I don’t have to worry about leaving my classroom wide open when I’m not there. My class after I have to period sub helps to set up our classroom for the lesson, while I set up the laptop for the lesson. These tips are to maintain our sanity as we are forced to give up our prep time. It is definitely not a solution to the problem that many are facing as we have to trade in our prep time to substitute in other classes. Do you have to sub during your prep time? Is there anything that makes it a little easier for you?

Stressful Subbing Situation

November 21, 2022Lisa Barnard Current Affairs, Education Policy

Period subbing in a secondary school setting in the state of Arizona is sort of inevitable right now. When I first started teaching, we had a few consistent middle school substitutes but they are becoming extremely rare. There are weeks

Utilizing Tax Credit Money

November 18, 2022Laura Ballesteros Education Policy

How are we supposed to give our students a well-rounded education when the money available to us is not really available to us? I recently attended this outstanding film entitled “Where is Anne Frank” and while viewing it, I began

Reasons To Be Thankful

November 16, 2022Nicole Wolff Education, Education Policy, Life in the Classroom

I spend a lot of time critiquing issues in my profession. The criticism is born out of love for my profession, passion for the work, and a deeply held belief that public education is the bedrock of a functional society.

The Cape: Option 3

November 14, 2022Yolanda Wheelington Current Affairs, Education, Elementary, Life in the Classroom

In my previous post, The Cape: Deny or Accept, I discussed the conflicting emotions I had after reading the EducationWeek articles High Teacher Expectations Boost Long-Term Student Outcomes (Madeline Will, 2022) and Why One Principal Is Asking Her Staff to