It was either yesterday or 100 years ago or two years ago when I was sent the email that I knew was coming but I wasn’t sure would ever come and somehow came much later than it should have – that we were transitioning to …
Read MoreTo My New Students
I am so excited and happy and nervous (and excited again) about having you in my class this semester! For many people – no matter if they are students, teachers, parents, administration – this school year already feels like a lot. Every day there is …
Read MoreThe Reflection I Needed to Write
As part of an early-career mentor program, I took part in a year-long collection of workshops, meeting, discussions, and presentations about creating an engaging classroom environment. All members of this program were all asked to reflect on our time as part of the end-of-the-year requirement. …
Read MoreWhite Educators, We Need To Do More.
If you have a modicum of human decency and empathy – and you have not been living under a rock – your thoughts and emotions, like mine, have been going a mile a minute as stories of three more Black Bodies being murdered have made …
Read MoreTeaching While Traumatized
First of all, I want to apologize to my friends and family and coworkers and colleagues near and far; some (most) of the content of this post may have been (definitely was) borrowed (stolen) from our conversations. Has it really only been a week since …
Read MoreThe Ups and Downs of Teaching
Every day I’m reminded of how, as educators, our lives continuously ebb and flow and zig and zag. We have horrible lows in which we question if we’re doing it right, if any of this is even making a difference, if this is the right …
Read MorePart of Being Teacherly is Learning I’m Still Learning
I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I planned everything and had everything in place. I thought this time it would go perfect. But I thought wrong. My teacher candidates in my Methods course are always full of stress and anxiety and …
Read MoreWords and the World
I am a huge proponent of reading and literacy and not just because I’m an English teacher. Even before I realized I was a teacher, I loved to read. Come to think of it, I loved to read before I was even a student. (Thanks, …
Read MoreNetflix and Learn; or How “When They See Us” Can Make Us Better Teachers
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND GO WATCH “When They See Us.” Okay. You’re back, so that must mean you took my advice and watched the four episodes on Netflix (and hopefully the Oprah special afterwards as well). So now you see why I …
Read MoreNo Apology Necessary
Stolen from the internet and revised for more academic purposes— If you (or someone you know / work with / work for) needs this, SHARE IT!
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