Have you ever thought, “Why am I doing this activity? What is the point?” A common response from veteran teachers is something like, “I’ve done it this way for ___ years!” A few years ago, I would say something similar
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Teacher Retention: A Success Story
Last month, I wrote a blog about teacher retention and the need to “begin within” when it comes to teacher recruitment. Beginning within means school leaders need to be intentional with their efforts to entice valuable teachers to return to
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The Power of Error
We are all in the thick of it now. Preparing for….AZMerit and end of year testing (oh no!) I am in it just as much as anyone else, I am sure, and my students and parents are in here with
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Assessing Civics
“There may be a lot of things that Democrats and Republicans disagree on, but educating our students about American civics is something almost everyone can agree is vital.” -Governor Ducey, February 2017 In 2018, Governor Doug Ducey signed SB
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A Digital World
Technology in schools is always a hot button issue. For every teacher that loves their tech, another hates it and vows to never use it; for every school that goes 1-1, another throws away all their devices and digs out
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This Is Why I Go To Games
Let me tell you about two of my students. He’s a fun guy with a lot of friends. He doesn’t make a great effort in math but usually pulls it together by test time and does ok. He’s the kind
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A Plea for Play
When I was little, I used to say to my friends, “Meet me at my swing set.” My daughter says, “I’m meeting my friend at the left corner of Stomp io” (an Internet game). This is true for many parents
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The Best Days of Our Lives
A simple provocation on Twitter: To show that you love teaching, share what your #LoveTeaching theme song would be. Oh yeah, I thought. Challenge accepted. I can keep this pretty simple. I want my students to leave every single day
Read MoreUnderlings No More
Soon-to-be traitor Cassius states “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / it is in ourselves” in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. I recently threw this quote at my ninth graders while they practiced interpreting
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Emmy’s Treehouse
People always roll their eyes when I tell them I love teaching middle school. “I could never do that. All the hormones. No thank you.” I always laughed it off and responded, “Oh man, could never teach the little ones.
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