Three years ago my first graders failed to make it through the entire sequence of first grade skills by June. At the time, I assumed that it was a one off–a particular group of children who needed more time than the school year offered us. The following year, I experienced the same thing and then again the year after that. With a trend of three years, it began to become clear that something else was going on. Continue reading What’s affecting how children learn?
Category Archives: 1st Post
Team Building
I started teaching in graduate school. That’s according to my resume. In truth, I started teaching way before that. My introduction to professional teaching happened at the J Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camp when I was just 18 years old. There are no real words to describe this camp – it’s something that has to be experienced. I can use the words tough, grinding, pain, growth, doubt, fear…but those are ultimately just black marks on the screen. This camp, which I first experienced as a camper, was easily one of the most challenging things that I volunteered for in my life. Continue reading Team Building
Self Portraits of an English Teacher
I’m thinking a lot these days about a recurring project my son did in kindergarten. Every month, they drew a new self-portrait. With a small hand mirror and colored pencils in front of him, my son paused, observed, and drew what he saw. The drawings became more detailed over time, capturing things like skin tone, expression, clothing, and when looked at together they tell a kind of narrative: who my son was at a particular moment and who he was becoming, over time. Continue reading Self Portraits of an English Teacher
My “Dramatic” LREI Journey to My Progressive Practice
MY “BACKSTORY”:
I began teaching at LREI in September 2007. In the second week, I launched straight into holding auditions for my first HS musical which was Little Shop of Horrors – the show opened in the first week of November and within a month I was putting on the MS play, Treasure Island with a cast size over 50! At the time I was asked to be in charge of all set and costumes; I had a parent who helped on lights and a science teacher to help me with set building. At the time, I wondered how I could sustain such a demanding position . . . Continue reading My “Dramatic” LREI Journey to My Progressive Practice
How to Pause?
Everyone is moving so fast from task to task. Sixty minutes surely flies by and 45 minutes sometimes feels like a blink. My plan book details the activities of each math class but I’m not always sure of my students’ experiences or what they REALLY gain in the time we spend together. Many things pull at their attention: the humanities presentation they just gave, the science test next class, the basketball game at 3:30pm. Hence, I’ve initiated a self-study about examining how best I pause to gather information about what my students know at any given point (formative assessment) and how math class is really going for them.
Librarian, who art thou?: Embarking on a Self Study
I am a Middle School Librarian. I also answer to “media specialist,” “teacher librarian,” “book wrangler,” and “lion tamer.” Some days I am a stand-alone stalwart, but most days I am an embedded collaborator with my laudable and erudite colleagues. I juggle the shelving of stacks, the circulation of materials, the teaching of research, and the matching of kid to book. I look longingly at my Raspberry Pi codebook and pine for the day when I can actually use it, write book reviews and evaluate databases. I read, read, read and read some more.
Continue reading Librarian, who art thou?: Embarking on a Self Study