A few weeks ago, I opened my email to see the date I have been waiting for since May – the date National Board would release the scores, December 1, 2018. I have been waiting for this date for two
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Applying the Principles of “Good to Great” in the Classroom
National Board score releases have come and gone and I was relieved to see the “Congratulations!” banner come across my screen. That was a sweet, sweet moment and I am thankful to all of those who helped and supported
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A Holiday Wish List for ELD Equity
It’s that time of year when the child within us develops a dreamy, far-off look, and her eyes begin to gleam. Sugar plums? A Red Ryder BB gun? A new laptop? A roof rack and two kayaks? Creating a holiday
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Riding the #EdWave and Diving Deeper into Teacher Leadership
Last spring, when 70,000 teachers flooded the Capitol to make five demands known, there were as many leaders as followers. Educators flexed the bullhorn, organized a band, wrote initiatives, arranged meetings with lawmakers, trained people to circulate petitions, set up
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Fire in the Hole!
In 2010, the AZ State Legislature ended funding for a program called the Early Childhood Block Grant [ECBG]. The loss of money was a devastating blow to many school organizations. In the district where I worked, the ECBG funds were
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Learning about Listening
Stop talking. It’s the best advice I’ve gotten this year and it hasn’t just been from one source. But it’s not just to stop talking, it’s to start really listening. We’re taught from a very young age that if we
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Friends Don’t Let Friends Commit Educational Malpractice
My former assistant principal and all-around amazing human being, Molly Garcia, taught me about the importance of teachers undertaking a deep dive into brain research and why teachers need to understand how the brain learns. She taught me that if
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Redirecting Applause
No one will ever describe me as humble. Ever. Like Lady Gaga, I live for “the applause, applause, applause. I live for the applause-plause, live for the applause-plause!” With that said, I one time misspelled “ego” in my school’s spelling
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The Educated Voter…Midterm Elections 11/6/18
One lesson that I think all educators across the valley can agree with is that it is critical for us to stay informed and involved in our legislative process. I think we also learned that in order to do this,
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