8 Mar
At the end of the day, one of my students approached me.
“Mrs.M, my mom and I went to a restaurant last night,and we were sitting by three teachers. They were talking about their students and saying mean things. They were calling them stupid, weird, and ugly.”READ MORE…
28 Jan
My eyes are burning.
My blood pressure is high for the first time in 53 years.
My doctor swears that I have mild arthritis in my knees.
“Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”READ MORE…
24 Nov
My car was hit the other day. I’m not worried about it. I was fine. My insurance will cover the damages and my car will be fixed.
The damage to my car caused an “education connection”. It made me think about that kid who is being bullied by their teacher or teachers and no one knows. We have all seen videos of the extreme cases where teachers are bullying kids.
But what about the student who is bullied every day and it’s not recorded? These poor kids are subject to whatever abuse that the small-minded, big bully, teacher can throw at them.READ MORE..
19 Nov
I learned about it by accident. I approached my principal about another child and she asked me not to get upset. I wondered why a simple response to a question about a situation with a student, could possibly upset me. And that’s when she told me what a student had accused me of. I really think I was in shock, because I nodded, said, “What?”, listened to what she was saying, and returned to the workshop I was attending.READ MORE…
9 Nov
Dear Accelerated Reader,
I have a bone to pick with you!
I don’t know about other schools, or classrooms, but you are sucking the joy out of reading in my classroom.
Ok, well, it’s not really you, but it’s what you stand for. It’s also what others have made of you. So, I guess it’s not all your fault..READ MORE
22 Oct
I received an email from a parent the other day. It wasn’t a hostile email. It was written in a polite tone. It was just a parent trying to find out what was going on in my classroom regarding his daughter. If this happened with my kids, I probably would have written an email like it as well. I also really appreciated the fact that this parent sent the email to me, instead of going straight to my principalREAD MORE…
31 Jul
Jeopardy and Photopeach:Beginning of the Year Activities! I got this idea from the facilitator of a workshop I participated in last week. This is how she started the class, different categories of course, and I thought it was so cool! I asked her for a copy, and then realized I could use the online version of Jeopardy. Of course, you can use whatever Jeopardy you are comfortable with. I really like this one because you can edit easily, download, and/or share it. I left Textbooks blank because I would love a category that is more fun and /or interesting. Any ideas?...Read More
24 Jul
Usually what happens on Linkedin, stays on Linkedin, but this discussion topic warranted a post. A teacher started a discussion regarding 50+ educators and survival tips. Many, many 50+ educators responded with wonderful, positive, ideas and comments about what they do in order to “survive” teaching. As a matter of fact, the responses weren’t even those of educators who are just “surviving”. Most of the teachers who responded, like me, are still passionate about teaching.
Somewhere along the line of reading the comments, one of the comments really bothered me, and this was my general response:
I think, as a teacher, when you reach the point where you can’t stand your job, you should find something else to do. I know it sounds harsh, but we are dealing with children…Read More
16 Jul
We all do it. We might not be conscious of it all the time, but we do it. Whether it is race, gender, nationality, religion, etc…, we stereotype. Stereotyping in general is a bad thing, but when it is done in our classrooms, we are committing a grave disservice to our students… Read more!
9 Jun
COMING SOON?
And you know they would! 
Merit pay, how realistic is it that our pay could actually be tied to test scores? Very realistic!
What is merit pay? Noun :extra pay awarded to an employee on the basis of merit (especially to school teachers)
What “think tank” thought up this idea, maybe the same one that stated that smaller class size doesn’t matter? I am amazed by what people (non-educators) come up with in order to hold teachers “accountable.” Or is it to make sure that the “better” teachers get what they deserve? No matter the reasoning behind this premise, it is ridiculous! I know it probably sounded like a good idea, but it is difficult to come up with criteria in the education field that would allow this idea to work.
Tie our pay to test scores? Are all students equal? I don’t think so. If that was the case, why would we need differentiated instruction? If Teacher A works in a school with struggling students and Teacher B works in a school with high achievers, does that make Teacher B a teacher who is deserving of merit pay, and Teacher A is not?
If Teacher A and B engage their students, and provide ample opportunities for their students to learn, but Teacher B has enough students that pass the test, does this mean Teacher B is a better teacher?
Or what if Teacher B does nothing but teach to the test, while Teacher A works to establish a well-rounded student? Is Teacher B going to get paid more if more of his/her students pass?
I believe that most teachers are dedicated, hard-working people, who don’t need to be “bribed” to do their job. Teachers don’t do what they do for money, that is obvious from the salaries we make. I partially agree with Arne Duncan, teachers should be paid up to $150,00. But pay them for all that they do, not because their students scored high enough on a test!
