I walked into my Assistant Principal’s office the other day and waited patiently for her to finish her phone call before speaking with her. While I waited, I noticed the middle schooler sitting at a desk in the corner spending time for lunch detention. She was pounding away on her desk while the Assistant Principal … More You Don’t Know Me!
The other day, I overheard a colleague having a conversation with a student. My colleague asked the student, “Why are you here?” The student responded by asking the same question to my colleague. My colleague replied with, “I’m here because I have to be here.” It was at that moment, I knew a learning opportunity … More Attitude Is Everything
This post may be controversial! I remember when I first started teaching that I thought I was going to “change” or “save” each student, and that they would become successful in everything they did. The truth is that I wasn’t going to save, change, or win all of my students. This was a hard pill … More You Can’t Win Them All
The classroom is a dangerous place. It can be used to create strong men and women with discipline, work ethic, and integrity, or it can be used to create weak men and women who are selfish, egotistical, and lazy. The teacher has the power to influence which type of individual emerges from their classroom. This … More Use Your Platform Responsibly
Why are your students struggling to meet academic goals? Why is your class struggling to follow the expectations? Why is the school culture struggling? How can you be more intentional in the classroom? How can you help your students better understand the content? How can you help your teachers be great at what they do? … More Reflection Is Key
At the beginning of every year, teachers go through content standards and lesson plans and figure out how they are going to get through all the required content standards for that school year. Elementary teachers who teach all subjects have hundreds of content standards to get through throughout the year. High school teachers who teach … More CONTENT
“There is no easy way. There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline” (Jocko Willink). In my last post, I stated that very little has changed in the public school system since its establishment 100+ years ago. When it comes to how a classroom … More Let This Be The Foundation
All educators want a successful classroom. They want students to come ready to learn, ready to dive deep, and willing to take risks in their learning. Teachers can’t expect students to show up this way. Students are tired, they have baggage they are dealing with at home, some come from a chaotic home life, and … More An Important Ingredient
Welcome To The Classroom 