April 22, 2018 Dear Children, When I mentioned possibly not being at school on Thursday, you looked confused. “Why won’t you be here? Why don’t you want to be with us? Did we do something wrong?” When my own son
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It’s All About Survival
I’m so excited for our Teach-In at the Capitol this Wednesday, March 28th!! I was asked by a friend why educators are needing to protest at the Capitol. Such a simple question; shouldn’t it deserve a simple answer? If I
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Sacrificing for Students
On March 2nd, “CBS This Morning” took their national audience inside the Arizona classroom. The banner underneath had a very powerful statement, “Sacrificing for Students.” This was an interesting Twitter post for me, as I was reading it while sitting
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Today is a Good Day!
It came back. The district-required “Intent to Return” form was sitting in my teacher mailbox. I placed it on my desk this week and stared at it during the few free moments I had. “List your top 3 choices for
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My One Word for 2018
My niece and nephew visited my Arizona home for the first time during this Winter Break. I was very excited—we haven’t spent a lot of time together in the past 12 years of their lives as they live in Oregon.
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Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust
We lost another one. Another new teacher has left the building, the classroom, and the students. But we didn’t just lose a teacher. A teacher has lost her faith and trust in education. Every time I watch this go down,
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The Technology Epidemic
This morning an interesting story was reported by the “Today” show, describing how the fast food restaurant “McDonalds” is testing phone lockers to encourage conversation at the table. The video clip showed the joy and wonder of a small child
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A Few of My Favorite Things
I entered into No Man’s Land this school year. It’s a stinky, emotionally complex yet surprisingly fun land called… sixth grade! Who knew I would be personally and professionally challenged by a very diverse group of tweens? Several colleagues have
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The Story of the Stapler
In late July, I was sitting in the cardboard box in a warm dark corner of a classroom, waiting for my owner to arrive. This is my 20th year of sitting in the box during the summer months, waiting for
Read MoreNo One Puts State 48 in the Corner!
While walking my dog one morning, I bumped into a fellow teacher who lives in my neighborhood. She happened to be my student teacher four years ago, and when we worked together, she was full of hopes and dreams of
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