Summer Reading Bingo

Last year I started a tradition with my students. Well, I tried a new thing, and since it worked, I brought it back again this year. So I think we can safely call it a tradition. I don't assign any required summer reading, but I do give the kids an optional summer reading bingo sheet....

Not a Forever-Goodbye

About a week ago, I told my oldest students the story of the events surrounding this post from eight years ago. After moving seven times in five years, constantly starting over and proving myself repeatedly, I thought I'd found my place to put down roots -- only to have the rug ripped out from under...

A Year of Reading

In the town we lived in when my kids were born, our local library had a "1000 Books by Kindergarten!" program. Kids who reached this achievement won their names on the wall, a free book, and even a stuffed animal, I think. I'm not really sure, because I never signed my kids up for it....

What’s Your Why?

I was sitting in a faculty meeting last week, and the line was used about how teaching isn't a job, it's a ministry. It was hard not to cringe because I've heard this line used so many times to gaslight and guilt trip burned out teachers into meeting every possible need except their own. Thankfully,...

The Importance of Being Seen and Known

"Once more unto the breach..."-Shakespeare, Henry V. The battle cry from Shakespeare's Henry V were my parting words as I left our morning faculty devotions and headed out to class yesterday. It's my go-to line for the hard days, which there seem to be a lot of these days. I didn't carve out this space...

Vulnerability and Risk in Teaching

Do you want to know something weird? One-on-one meetings with students intimidate me. In the past, the only one-on-one conferences with students I've done were forced upon me (such as when I taught for The Princeton Review, who didn't allow for teacher autonomy in their curriculum). Ironically, now that I think about it, I actually...