After An Educator's Journey
Out of the classroom & into the universe
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Once upon a time, I taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. Now I’m retired and working on new ventures.
Month: September 2010
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More and more I find myself talking to students about what is and is not socially acceptable. Oh I know that since the Stone Age kids have been playing cootie games. The level of nastiness, though, has been taken up quite a few notches; words and actions, put-down, all are becoming so hurtful that the…
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I was never much of a writer as a student, so working over the last 4 years within the structure of the Writing Workshop has sometimes posed a challenge. As a professional learning community, we’ve explored Lucy Calkins, Regie Routman, and other nationally known experts in writing literacy. We’ve incorporated these ideas in to our…
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For anyone who knows me personally, you know my story. Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and started my treatment. For 20 years I’ve tried to be brave, and mostly calm when it comes to my annual foray in to “does she or doesn’t she?” However this week’s visit for a mammogram…
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There is no magic bullet for creating partnerships between home and family. How I wish there was! However, once in a while I hear another teacher’s idea and borrow it to suit my own purpose. Isn’t that something we all do? In this case I borrowed my colleague Kim Bonfilio’s idea of seeking parent input…
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For whatever reason, this group of students is having a heck of a time dialing things back after any unstructured time. I noticed it almost immediately which, given all the other chaos accompanying the first days of school was quite an accomplishment. Some of the problems that are interfering with getting back to work: excessive…
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School started a week ago. I can already see the work ahead of us – and that is NOT a reference to academics. This group of students has lots of trouble transitioning, especially outside of the classroom. And there are a lot of them this year – my class size is at what used to…
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With the Common Core Standards, we — that means teachers — are bracing for new and improved standardized testing. An article in the Boston Globe this morning (link here) floats the idea. MCAS may or may not be replaced by a new Common Core test, presumably aligned to the new standards. If you read the…
After An Educator's Journey 