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.
Category: The Craft of Teaching
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Our elementary school, like many others, has a moment at the beginning of the day for school-wide announcements. In our school, the Morning Announcement also includes the Pledge of Allegiance and our school’s Learning Pledge. Each morning, coming together as a school community, we recite both pledges together. As you can imagine, sometimes a student…
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We have five days to go. I find it incredible that this journey of an academic year is quickly coming to the finish line – or more accurately, getting ready to crash and burn. It’s a time of year when every culminating activity that was ever invented gets scheduled: field trips, tests, report cards, field…
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This week I was asked at a Team Meeting what I thought about particular student’s participation in MCAS (this student has serious health issues which limit school participation). Was there an alternate way to assess this student that would enable us to know what had been achieved? And that got me thinking about what I…
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Because our school’s literacy program is tightly tied to Fountas and Pinnell (and whose isn’t?), my students have actively used Readers’ Notebooks for quite a number of years. The conveniently packaged sets from Heineman are sold in 5 packs for $28 (web price, regular price $40!). Multiply that $28 by at least 5 for a…
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This week concluded our adventures into the world of the Third Grade MCAS Reading Test. And yes, our third graders took their last test on April Fools Day – better known as March 32 in Room 207. I’ve been administering these tests during each of the four years I’ve been teaching third grade. Before that,…
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I’ve just started reading a professional book by the Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) called The Cafe Book. The Sisters wrote The Daily Five which I’ve been partially using in my own classroom during Reading Workshop to help manage what the “other kids” are doing while I’m conferencing or working with a group. When…
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Yesterday, we reached the 100th day of school — triple digits. From this point on the year will whiz by at the speed of light… 80 school days from now we will be all done. For kids, that seems like an eternity, but for me Day 100 is the point at which panic sets in.…
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Sometimes we, meaning I, get so caught up in teaching the required standards, that we forget. We forget the simple pleasure of hearing a book read aloud. I’m not talking about picture books here — those texts are used over and over to illustrate a mini lesson or a book with enjoyable illustrations. I am…
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Each year I’ve required students to write at least weekly about something they have been reading. At first the students’ letters go something like this: Dear Mrs. Bisson, I read Arthur’s Teacher Trouble. It was really funny. Your friend, No matter how pushed I am for time I generally manage to write back and so…
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One of the nicest advantages of teaching is the possibility of multiple “fresh starts” throughout the year. There’s the obvious one — in the Fall, another after one report card period closes and another opens, and tomorrow’s: the first day of a new calendar year. Each start brings excitement and butterflies. Obviously the unknown of…
After An Educator's Journey 