I wake up in the morning these last few months feeling like the clock is running out on me. It’s interesting to think that, essentially in the school system, January begins a weird sort of count down for me. We
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Spring Break is in the Air
I am counting down the minutes until Spring Break, which for me officially begins in 480 minutes! Between finalizing grades, holding Parent-Teacher conferences, serving on a district committee the past two weeks, doing my actual job of teaching my students,
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What Happens When We Get to College, Mrs. Clark?
One of my favorite aspects of being a teacher is talking with the kids. Just talking. Asking them questions about themselves, their friends and families, hobbies, other classes, after school activities, and future plans. I sit back listening as they
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Why Am I Teaching This Way?
Have you ever thought, “Why am I doing this activity? What is the point?” A common response from veteran teachers is something like, “I’ve done it this way for ___ years!” A few years ago, I would say something similar
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The Power of Error
We are all in the thick of it now. Preparing for….AZMerit and end of year testing (oh no!) I am in it just as much as anyone else, I am sure, and my students and parents are in here with
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This Is Why I Go To Games
Let me tell you about two of my students. He’s a fun guy with a lot of friends. He doesn’t make a great effort in math but usually pulls it together by test time and does ok. He’s the kind
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The Best Days of Our Lives
A simple provocation on Twitter: To show that you love teaching, share what your #LoveTeaching theme song would be. Oh yeah, I thought. Challenge accepted. I can keep this pretty simple. I want my students to leave every single day
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Soon-to-be traitor Cassius states “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / it is in ourselves” in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. I recently threw this quote at my ninth graders while they practiced interpreting
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Let’s Play! Maybe Older Students Need Recess, Too!
Today was the first day of AZELLA testing for my 7th grade introduction level English Language Development class. They were very nervous during the first subtest (Listening), and then we had quite a bit of time to relax. It wasn’t
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Assessment Season: The Perfect Storm
When I teach poetry and literature, I teach my students to analyze the seasons. When we look at spring, we annotate phrases such as “growth, rebirth, renewal, cleansing, pure, and clean.” We talk about Mother Nature and her powers. We
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