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.
Author: amybisson
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Last Friday, just before we dismissed students, one of my charges folded a piece of notebook paper and slipped it into the correction basket. I discovered it this afternoon as I did my Sunday prep for the week ahead. Today was the best day ever. We had popsicals (sic) and extra reacess (sic) and I…
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If you believe everything you read about education, you would think that public schools have been taken over by slackers only interested in making a quick buck, the “generous” benefits, and extra long summers off. If you truly wish to know what really happens in a public school classroom, go visit one. Seriously. And be…
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One of the things I did for myself this summer was to enroll in an Orton-Gillingham Comprehensive training. I’d been trained at a previous school in Lindamood Bell and found that systematic phonics instruction really helped my students, particularly those whose first or primary language was not English. While the intensity of this training can’t…
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It rained last Thursday. Which isn’t really news-worthy unless you are a teacher with just a few weeks left of summer break. A rainy day is usually the impetus for me to start readying my classroom for the first day of school. This year I am a bit more behind the eight ball than usual…
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I recently read this post from Germantown Avenue Parents’ blog. Those behavior management tools – like the mentioned stoplight? Do they really help kids get behaviors on track? In my school, we are required to hang a pocket chart. Each child has an assigned number and flips cards through a series of colors – green…
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This is a parallel story. Last year, I spent a frustrating year teaching mathematics. Frustrating because, despite what I knew to be good practice, my students’ test results were not stellar. In fact, much of the time, my class averages were below every other class on the team. In the data-driven environment in which we…
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In the upcoming school year, I will be changing grade levels and classrooms. Honestly, I am not sure which of those two is more scary – learning a new curriculum or moving my collected treasures. The move to a new classroom is at once exhilarating and deflating. I do welcome the chance to vigorously downsize…
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One of my not-education “hobbies” is family history. It is exhilarating to me when I find a link to a relative, and especially cool when I can place that relative in history. I have found some relatives that fought during the Civil War – and on both sides of that conflict. My Dutch-born great-grandfather, Anthony…
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Like lots of teachers, I am burnt to a crisp mentally by the time June arrives. Some years, this happens sooner – usually those are the years that can be identified as curriculum change years. This year has been a particular challenge. You see, this year, everything was new again. I have been teaching for a…
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When you ask kids about their favorite subject in school, one of the most popular answers (after lunch) are “recess” and “gym”. Why is that? Kids seem to inherently know they need some physical exercise. They know they feel better when they get to move around. Brain and body breaks aside, kids need to exercise.…
After An Educator's Journey 