Rachel Perugini, Author at STORIES FROM SCHOOL AZ

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables

January 21, 2022Rachel Perugini Current Affairs, Education, Life in the Classroom

The masked humans stare back at me at the start of each class. I smile at them through my mask, and I hope they are smiling too, but you never know. I do know that more desks are empty today

Fingers Crossed

December 8, 2021Rachel Perugini Life in the Classroom, National Board Certification, Teacher Leadership

At this moment, National Board Candidates from around the country are counting down the hours until scores are released this week and they will finally know if their hard work paid off. That moment, I remember, is stressful and exciting

What’s on Your Walls?

November 17, 2021Rachel Perugini Education, Life in the Classroom

Every year the walls start bare. The empty white spaces stare at me until the learning starts and slowly the walls get filled up with colorful posters. My room is definitely a reflection of my teacher personality: brightly colored (slightly

The Magic of Books

October 20, 2021Rachel Perugini Books, Literacy, Love

Scene: My sister sent me a video of my niece this week. 15 months old, she is sitting as her mom reads one of her favorite books to her, and she parrots the words “a baby” on cue after her

When Good Teachers Go

September 15, 2021Rachel Perugini Current Affairs, Education, Life in the Classroom

At the end of last school year, we all contemplated our future careers in education. My friends and I joked about all the other jobs our teaching skills could be used for and clicked through the want ads when they

A Little Faith

August 20, 2021Rachel Perugini Education, Life in the Classroom, Love

In typical back-to- school fashion, I had the usual first day of school anxiety nightmare, this time with a COVID twist. I was getting a COVID booster shot only to be told I had never actually received my vaccine, had

What Energizes You?

April 23, 2021Rachel Perugini Current Affairs, Education, Life in the Classroom

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

A Reset

March 24, 2021Rachel Perugini Education, Life in the Classroom

Spring break is the chance for teachers everywhere to exhale, but I know most teachers are like me and spend their week off finding a balance between relaxing and catching up. I usually spend the first days of any break

The New, New Normal

February 19, 2021Rachel Perugini Current Affairs, Life in the Classroom, Web/Tech

It has been almost a full year since our school closed for Spring Break last year and COVID quarantine began. In that time, I have mastered Zoom (most days), digitized all of my files, loaded my entire life onto Google

Co-teaching Online

January 22, 2021Rachel Perugini Education, Life in the Classroom, Web/Tech

I think we probably all remember that one class we all took in our teacher training that talked about the various models of co-teaching. After that you head off into the real world where you may or may not actually