It’s true that I have over 200 blog post drafts that may never see the light of day. Some of them, well, they certainly reflect how far I’ve come. Some are actually pretty good ideas, though I haven’t gotten around to developing them. So I went back in time and Read more…
I’m not here to find fault with students. I am not here to sentence them for their crimes–against me, the school, Society, or the preterite tense. I am not here to make them suffer and regret their mistakes. I am here to make sure they get better. Sometimes I have to Read more…
My four-year-old must have thrown up fifteen times between 10:30PM and 3:30AM. Her daddy had her all cleaned up and her bed stripped by the time I came out of my Nyquil coma after the first round. You see, last week, her brother had brought a monster cold home from Read more…
I’ve officially been using IPAs for a year now, and I could not be happier with the results. I finally got around to graphing last semester’s final IPA results, and it is pretty much all good news. You can see significant differences between last year and this, not least among Read more…
Each week in January I’ll be featuring insights on the blog from some ladies with great ideas from my PLN. This week, Stephanie Schenck helps answer the question, “How do you tame your inner critic?“ Stephanie Schenck is Spanish teacher at Clover High School, SC and PhD student in Literacy, Read more…
As in “for a reason.” Or “within reason.” Having a reason for each choice, an end goal in mind–but also accounting for available resources (time, experience…patience). In a way, this One Word resolution kind of combines my previous two: Word for 2014: Prepare Word for 2015: Less In order to Read more…
It’s 11:00 PM the night before grades are due, and you only have 55 e-portfolio pledges for review left on ForAllRubrics…not to mention a few late essays from SAT Prep. Life doesn’t have to be this way, amiga! Set yourself up for success. OK, you know now that you can Read more…
History I believed myself an English teacher when I started. I mean, I am an English teacher. I’ve got the degree, the certification, the occasional Creative Writing, Film and Lit, or SAT Prep class. I love the reading, the writing, and of course the discussion. But somehow that’s not who Read more…
“I honestly believe that if you incorporate Class Craft from the beginning and change the way portfolios work, Spanish will be everyone’s favorite class.” I generally take what the end-of-course surveys with a grain of salt, but even if Spanish won’t be EVERYONE’S favorite class, that’s still a pretty Read more…
I never got my Analysis of Student Work results back from the pilot last year, but I think my National Boards experience prepared me well for exactly this sort of thing. So while I can’t tell you for sure that I’m going to get a “Distinguished” or even a “Proficient” on Read more…