There are many factors that are impacting education, to include lack of funding, lack of teaching professionals in the classroom, and the lack of support for new professionals during the most crucial years. As a Hope Street Group National Teacher
Read MoreWho is driving the bus?
Do you get on or do you get left behind? Well, it depends on who is driving the bus? Have you ever sat in a professional development and thought “Why on earth am I here?” or “Could the rest of
Read More“Isn’t Kindergarten Supposed to be PUN?!?!”
“ Isn’t Kindergarten supposed to be PUN?!” Translation: Isn’t Kindergarten is supposed to be FUN?! The most constructive and valuable criticism I have received in my 7 years as an educator. Why? It was honest, genuine, and most importantly, provided
Read MoreRookie Moves
Now that I’ve returned to the classroom, people keep asking: “How is it going?” And my answer has been pretty consistent: it’s wonderful, but it’s also kicking my proverbial rear end! It’s not like I forgot how complicated teaching was,
Read MoreDigressions, Gripes, and My Hypocrisy
I’m going to start with a digression (a pregression?). I get poems stuck in my head, just like music. Two frequent culprits are from Kurt Vonneget’s novel, Cat’s Cradle: Lion gotta hunt, Bird gotta fly, Man gotta sit and wonder, Why?
Read More“Do You Have To Leave Us?”
“Mrs. Maloney, why do you have to leave us?” Her big gray eyes looked up at me pleadingly as she hugged me tight across the middle as if to stop me from exiting the classroom door. My heart was torn
Read MoreDefeat Doesn’t Live Here
Defeat. I think of this word and I think pain, rejection, frustration, and FAILURE. As I grow as a teacher leader there are times when I could let defeat consume and define me. As educators we experience highs and lows,
Read MoreWhy Do I Teach?
On the third day of school I asked students, “Besides money, what is the one thing that you personally have to get from a job?” I thought it was a good question to begin our unit on career explorations. I
Read MoreThe Pressure is On
Year 6 of 7 in Kindergarten, and the PRESSURE is on. Not the pressure of change, mandates, or parents rather the pressure that consumes me, is the pressure imposed by my students. The pressure to be better than I was the
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