Two years ago I wrote my very first blog for Stories From School AZ. It was a blog about change titled Change: Ready or Not Here it Comes. Up to that point, August of 2019 held more professional changes than
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The Number Ten
The number ten is significant to me this year. Ten is the number of years my husband and I have been together. Ten is the number of fingers on your hand and toes on your feet. Ten is the birthday
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Kindergarten 2021: Ready, Set, Go!
Kindergarten 2021: Ready, Set, Go! It happens every year. This is my 22nd year of teaching and it still happens to me! The week before school starts, I begin to get anxious. I need to get my classroom ready, my
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Self-Regulation for Gifted Students
The development of self-regulation is a key outcome of student participation in a Montessori environment. The furniture, materials, student access and manipulation of the environment, and the teacher herself are intentionally prepared for the child in efforts to support full
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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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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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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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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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The Last 28 Days
With running records, final assessments, report cards, and oh-so-many other things (all on top of the actual teaching of human beings), the last weeks of school can be hectic, exciting, chaotic, and challenging. Oftentimes, teachers start a final countdown to
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