This year, more than any of my previous, I’ve been reminded time and again that classroom management is difficult for many reasons, but one reason stands out above the rest: there are more of them than there are of you. I repeat, there are more of them. You will have…

Being a teacher is a lot like being a parent. And no, it’s not always the fun kind of parenting. It’s saying no more than you get to say yes; it’s waking them up (literally) and asking them for something they actively despise, and hoping for something productive. It’s doing…

The world will always know better…but, you will often know better than them, they just won’t know that. Originally this six word snip was written because of how many times friends of mine, or people in the crowd at a softball game or basketball game, or even my own mother…

The bell to start my first period rings at 7:40 am every morning. …

E wanted to be a marine biologist. She loved books, her friends, and the beach. C wanted to be a baseball player. Or a football player. Or any athlete. He loved his girlfriend, his friends, and being just a little wild and silly. J wanted to be social. He wanted…

In 2006, I had a handwritten gradebook that I updated into an online system once a month. These grades were then “published” (this is the extent to which I understand what happened) for parents to see every six weeks. By 2010, the school I worked for upgraded our system, and…

Were you a runner? A swimmer? Skier? Wrestler? Thrower? Gymnast? Even if you weren’t, looking at the list above, you’ve identified the similarity in those sports: individual-team sports. It’s an oxymoron to be sure, but accurate when describing teaching. Teaching is not a continuous team sport; we are not always…