“I’m glad I came — intersession’s been a lot of fun.” Over this past week, my friends were exploring the streets of San Francisco and snowboarding along the Pennsylvania mountains. I, on the other hand, was still waking up before the sun rises and trudging with sleepy feet into John Marshall, spilling coffee onto my…

It’s amazing how a few (or, let’s be honest, a LOT) of frustrating times can completely blot over the high points of a week. In an attempt to wipe off the grime from the last part of 3rd quarter: -Possibly the best teaching adventure ever happened yesterday. I remembered at the last minute, while eating…

MY KIDS ARE INCREDIBLE. – While teaching 30+ middle schoolers, I had five high school “TA’s.” They circulated around the room, answered questions, and then taught the end part of the lesson in smaller groups. Thanks to them, the kids were able to grasp onto the material and work at a pace that matched their…

What does it mean to be a woman — a strong, successful, empowered woman? I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately — to assess my personal growth, and the growth of my students. Each day, I notice John Marshall female students acting in ways that promote themselves as empowered women…and in ways that degrade…

Yesterday I became aquinted with the beuaracracy of the Department of Human Services in my attempt to help out two of my boys (I wrote about their plight yesterday in this post). While I understand the need for all the red tape that goes on, especially in places that have the potential to be dangerous,…

Today, I didn’t drive my students toward success. I led confusing & circuitous INM and struggled with classroom management. And I am prouder of my students than I’ve probably ever been. – DW (from my fifth hour class) didn’t have a cover during her fourth hour, so she came into my honors class & learned…

Today after soccer practice, I’m going to drive to the local shelter. There, I am going to pick up two of my students and drive them home with me. They are going to stay with me for the next few days. After that, I don’t know what will happen to them. The two students are…

“I’m just here to take care of my own business.” One of my students has said this phrase since day one, and at first, I was taken aback. Didn’t she want to be part of a collaborative classroom culture? Didn’t she want to contribute to the success of others? Now, I understand that phrase differently.…

As of this writing, it’s second hour and all 21 of my students are working. Not just working, but working hard. I haven’t had to do more than redirect anyone yet and in my first hour, we got through everything. Group work went great and everyone was on task and talking about the right things.…

Today is the third day of class I missed this week.  My son came down with a stomach virus and he has been throwing up for the past three days.  I had to use some of my own sick days to stay home and take care of him.  That means the school has had to…