As a young teacher, I would see my students struggle to make any academic achievements and then make excuses for why they didn’t make adequate growth. I liked to blame it on students’ lack of attention and work ethic, student medical diagnoses (504’s and IEPs), family life, stupid school policies, and many other nonsensical reasons. … More Stop Making Excuses!
The other day, our school had a field day consisting of morning activities and a movie in the afternoon. Students were sent home with permission slips so they could watch the movie. For students to participate in watching the movie, they needed to bring back their permission slips signed by their parents. A handful of … More Consistency and Consequences!
“Students are showing poor academic progress! (Whatever that means). “Students are behind!” “Students are not showing good academic achievement!” These are things that I hear all the time in education. What I find even more disturbing is how teachers and school districts propose they fix poor student achievement. I have heard it said that focusing … More Stop Fixing Academics With Academics
Reading, language arts, and math are the focus in lower and upper elementary grades. This doesn’t mean history and science are not taught but are not considered core subject matter. State and national assessments focus on the three core subjects. Science starts being assessed in fifth grade and then again every two years. Schools put … More The Key To Academic Success
We tell our students that failure is a step in learning, but how often do we explain to them the value of failure, or more importantly, the importance of making mistakes? We train our students to get problems right, rather than to learn from their mistakes. We give students assignments and mark off what is … More Mistakes Are A Necessity
The morning meeting was about to start, and everyone was involved in some kind of small talk. The administrator walked to the front of the room to get the group’s attention. As he called for everyone’s attention, some people kept on talking. As the noise started to subside, you could still hear side conversations happening … More Be The Example
“Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think” (Thomas Edison). We live in a world where technology has taken over the mind of man. Thinking is no longer something we do, but rather something we avoid. We would rather … More ChatGPT Will Bankrupt Education
From the time a student enters the classroom, they are assessed and graded on content knowledge and level of understanding. Throughout their time in the education system, they receive report cards with grades for all subjects they have studied. Grades are used to tell students, especially those who do poorly in school, to work and … More What’s In A Grade?
The other day, my class was finishing up their last assignment for the day, when I had one student who was refusing to do anything. They were struggling with being focused and having a good attitude. In fact, he was sitting at his table, head down, and loudly rubbing a piece of paper on the … More Just Breathe
Dear New Teacher, Congratulations for making a step into being a positive influence in the lives of young people. The teaching profession is an honorable profession, but is often a very thankless job. There will be times where you will feel overwhelmed, tired, and think you are not making a difference. Let me encourage you … More A Letter to a New Teacher
Welcome To The Classroom 