Elbow, knees, dreams

Teaching on the Titanic

What a discouraging week. The lead master teacher at my school has decided to work elsewhere. She wants to work at a school with strong leadership and a staff dedicated to improving results for children. That witch!!! Seriously though, can you blame her? Read More...

a sad thing to see

A few years ago, I was in the teacher’s lounge, feeling exhausted. A middle school teacher (my school is preschool through 8th grade) asked how things were going, and I told her all about how difficult my kids were being. I then asked her how she Read More...

My turn under scrutiny

I had a formal observation today. What I mean is, I was the one being observed. (Usually it’s the other way around. I do 2-4 observations a quarter.) Every one of us, even the master and mentor teachers, needs to be observed once each quarter, and Read More...

Teaching grown-ups

Some weeks ago, a person from the early childhood department was visiting my classroom, and she saw me doing story time using the repeated interactive read-aloud strategy, so we talked about how it works, and I offered to do a little workshop on it for Read More...

Boys, boys, boys

A few months ago, while at a lesson waiting on my kid, I started chatting with another parent. He told me all about his son’s ADHD, and commented that “women teachers just don’t know how to teach boys.” I’ve been thinking Read More...

Reading First schools aren’t getting results?

I read in the paper yesterday that schools designated as Reading First schools, who get extra funds to do extra work in teaching reading, are not getting the hoped-for results. My school isn’t a Reading First school, but my heart sank when I read Read More...

Adequate Yearly Progress

I work at a school that is in trouble. We are not making AYP, and we haven’t been for a while now. I think we’re at the point where we really should be fresh-started, and everyone should be let go and have to interview for their own jobs. Read More...