America and the World Today It has been a difficult week for America and the world. American leadership in the world seems to be collapsing as nations considered to be our allies are criticized and nations thought to be adversarial are applauded as friends. The old world order established after World War II where the […]
The New Teacher Chronicles
Posted inElectives & Special Areas
Integrating Trends in Education: Lesson Plan Development for the 21st Century
When school starts next year, I’ll be in my thirty-fifth year in education. I feel like the slogan of the Farmer’s Insurance ad, “I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two.” Group work is now “Cooperative Learning.” Homework and tests are now tagged as “formative” and “summative” assessments. “Bloom’s taxonomy […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
And We Will Rise: Day 3 of the Oklahoma Walkout
We are on day three of the Oklahoma Walkout. Our governor made the comment yesterday that we [teachers] were acting like a bunch of spoiled “teenagers who want a better car.” One of our legislatures went Live on Facebook and said we were never going to be happy and that he “wasn’t supporting teachers anymore!” […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
The Financial Trials and Tribulations of Teaching
The contents of this article may seem obvious, but when I was a new teacher fresh out of college, no one went over the basics of living as an adult with me. My parents passed away shortly after I started my teaching career, and I had to learn these financial survival skills from the school […]
Posted inSpecial Education
Making Special Education Work For Everyone
I teach in a mild/moderate special education classroom, meaning that all of my kids are on IEPs and have been placed in my room because they meet disability criteria that my school district recognizes. They are able to attend a regular education classroom for all other subjects besides reading, language arts, math and adaptive behavior. […]
Posted inTeacher Burnout
The Off-Duty Teacher: What I Do to Feel Relaxed and Refreshed
It’s Monday afternoon, you’ve just spent the last 9+ hours on your feet teaching 130 students. You’ve barely had time for lunch and now two hours after dismissal, you’re ready to go home. However, you find that it’s hard to program your time at home because you’re still processing the events of the school day. […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher
I remember way back, last August when I was getting ready to start my first year of teaching. I was nervous but excited. Nervous, because I was going to be setting and enforcing my very own classroom culture. Excited, because I was and am passionate about the subject that I am able to teach. Looking […]
Posted inSeries
Stories of a New Administrator
A little over a year ago I took over as the Director of the small, private school I taught at for six years and attended as a small child. Need it be said that I was thrilled? My staff taught by my side for several years and brainstormed with me for nearly a year. I […]