Shortly after I returned home from school, I noticed that my good friend @ShanaVWhite tagged me in a post shared by @PedroANoguera. Upon opening the tweet, I immediately got a sinking feeling in my stomach. I thought: Not this again? By ‘this’ I mean the idea of whether Black students (capital ‘B’), namely boys, are … [Read more…]
Special Education and IEP accommodations for students with disabilities are a recurring topic in several online teacher groups. Most recently, a teacher posted a list of ‘problems’ plaguing classroom teachers, with one being ‘too many IEPs and accommodations’. My response was short and simple: “Too many IEPs and accommodations? LOL!” Then, I quickly exited the discussion … [Read more…]
Teachers who believe students are not supposed to be “managed” are correct. The manner in which they carry themselves in our classrooms; however, must be. I cannot (effectively) teach and the students certainly cannot learn if everyone is talking at the same time or vying for my attention. For those reasons, I need to implement … [Read more…]
It’s almost Springtime. Teachers have to ‘make it’ another month before our week long Spring Break. Well, maybe just the real ones who are ok with admitting to needing, enjoying, and looking forward to time away from the schools/classrooms in which we work. I know I’m looking forward to it because sometimes, a weekend just … [Read more…]
Today is Thanksgiving. We are spending two short days with immediate family in Indiana, after touring four colleges with the middle child. On top of being mentally exhausted before the start of the week-long holiday, I am now physically exhausted. As a Special Education Teacher, exhaustion is typically par for the course, right? Outside of … [Read more…]
Here I am, again. Trying to convince myself to keep a blog alive. To my credit, I have written a few things on Medium, but even those posts have become sparse. Most of the time I feel as though I’m shouting the same stuff into the Universe’s largest echo chamber, anyway. Who wants to read … [Read more…]
By now, most of us have seen the tweet implying what ‘good teachers’ do during the summer. If you haven’t, here is the link to the tweet by @SteeleThoughts. It rightfully garnered pushback from members of various #EduCommunities. Some teachers either gave that tweet the side-eye, ‘Liked’ it, or Retweeted it. I responded that I … [Read more…]
“I can’t believe what you say because I see what you do.” ~James Baldwin In holding myself accountable about writing more as a means of both reflection and motivation, I’m writing on this beautiful Sunday to clear my head. After our 1-day workweek last week due to snow, ice, and hazardous driving conditions, I find myself … [Read more…]
“The turbulence means you’re flying-stay the course.” @joelakaMaG I read that tweet roughly an hour ago. I retweeted it, then read it again as one of my followers ‘Liked’ it. Then, I read it again. I’ve been struggling to write a post…an update on my goal of getting things in order to apply for teaching jobs … [Read more…]
Today is December 28, 2017. There are only a few days remaining in our (teachers’) Christmas break. Although I’ve done a lot of resting and thinking, I’m not ready to go back…just yet. Sure, 2 weeks of vacation time is great and significantly more than what most people get/earn, but I need a little more … [Read more…]