School safety has been on the forefront of all of our minds. Without our schools being safe places, students simply cannot learn. There have been a bevy of ideas, some more grounded in reality than others, about how to make
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The Reset Button: Why We Need to Experience Failure to Reach Success
My husband, Tyler, plays video games when he has a free moment on the weekends. While I have no desire to pick up an XBox controller, I mindlessly listen while grading a stack of papers or finishing a chore as
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Living Monuments
In my classroom, the motto “Duty, Honor, Country” is displayed on my wall. Many of my students about two months into the school year ask me what gives with the motto? The biggest question I get is what kind of
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African American Influence on U.S. Government
African American Influence on U.S. Government As February winds down, let’s remember that the celebration of African American influence does not have to end. In honor of this, we will take a look at some of the ways that
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A Different Kind of Readiness
My students, like so many across the nation, want to do something. They are on their Instagram and Facebook feeds, during the aftermath of the post-Douglas HS shooting. They see young people that look and sound just like them giving speeches, planning walkouts,
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House Bill May Allow for Innovations Beyond the 4-Hour ELD Block
In December, Emmanuel, a hypothetical yet typical student from Honduras, moves to the U.S. with his father. Emmanuel, based on his age and previous schooling, is placed into seventh grade. He speaks very little English; more accurately, he can read
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A Better Approach to Empathy-Building PDs
Long before being told so by the new generation of privilege shamers, I knew that the comfort in which I grew up and my smooth entry into adult independence, resulted not only from having parents who played by the rules,
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Must Like Kids
You may have heard that 70-80% of new restaurants fail within the first year. As it turns out, that often cited statistic is exaggerated: the actual figure is 17%, according to Forbes. It turns out the chance of success is
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Mindfulness and the Type A Student
I am the mother to a Type A student, a very Type A student. You all know the kind; she cried at every 89%, attended every school function then studied all night, and took every Honors, AP, Dual Enrollment class
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