When is the “right” to retain a student? Every year we deal with this question and every year it is the same question we must answer, what good will it do? This year was no different. We started off the
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Juggling Glass Cups, Plastic Balls, and Ghosts
Teacher Appreciation Week is usually a week filled with cards, flowers, candy, and lots of good food. Although it may not always show, we really love our teachers. Teachers help parents guide their children through the ups and downs of
Read MoreTeaching the Holocaust
Should everyone teach the Holocaust or only those who have had training? I ask this question because recently our ELA teacher went on medical leave and left as her lesson for the remainder of the year to have the sub
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An Impromptu Conversation – Part 1
There are few enjoyable moments during testing as a teacher. But I find sometimes magic moments come out of it. This year as I was proctoring the AASA test to the English as a Second Language students, I had a
Read MoreSocial Development is More Important Than Ever (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this article, we discussed Dr. Montessori’s theory on the First Plane of Development. In that, we explored the social development of the child between the ages of 0-6 and introduced you to The Casa. The Montessori
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Funding Woes
Aggregate expenditure limit…you may have heard this term recently, or maybe you remember the panic last year as the AEL loomed over public schools. Either way, be ready to hear about this term again as the deadline to override it
Read MoreTo Celebrate or Not to Celebrate
When did we stop celebrating individual accomplishments at our school sites? Just this past weekend, I found out I had maintained my status as an NBCT and was very excited as last year had personally been tumultuous. I sent a
Read MoreSEL Exit Tickets
How well do you really know your students? Do you know their inner-thoughts, interests, hopes, dreams, fears, and worries? Do you know who their friends and frenemies are? There is a pretty easy way to learn a lot, and
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Now Hiring!
Where have all the people gone? I hear murmurings in many different industries about the shortage of workers. A friend of mine works in the news industry and agreed that they have been short for quite some time. Over the
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Hats and Gum: A Reminder to Focus on Relationships
I will never forget the day that a teacher told me her classroom management was “I don’t smile until after Winter Break.” At first I laughed because I thought she was joking. Then I sadly realized that she was completely
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