It’s Friday night and I just finished my first two days of hybrid instruction. I’m exhausted, though it’s not what you’d expect. I certainly have a sore face. Without a doubt, my throat is scratchy and I’m a bit dehydrated.
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Online Classroom Management
I officially had my first discipline referral this year. In an online learning environment, it does feel a little bit embarrassing to have discipline issues, but, I guess it is just as easy to break the rules from home as
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Time to Vote, or Not
It’s time again for what’s becoming a quadrennial visit into the world of social studies. Four years ago in Teaching and Practicing the Civics of Voting, I argued that the merits of not voting should be discussed in lessons about
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A Most Excellent Antidote
In any October that is not 2020, I, along with countless other Americans, will line up to enter haunted houses. We line up to walk through a land of make-believe. It heightens our senses, brings us a sense of whimsy,
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Students Speak About School 2020
If you have been reading Stories from School Arizona (this blog), you probably sense that, as challenging as “emergency” teaching and learning was in the spring (to steal a term from Fisher, Frey and Hattie), the scene in schools this
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What Do You Need and How Can I Help?
What color are you? If you ask this question of anyone who’s been in education for a while, they’ll immediately know you are asking about the results of a personality test grouping everyone by colors. We’ve been given this
Read MoreWhat’s Going to Work?
Remember the Wonder Pets? It was a TV show on Nick Jr that featured an adorable trio of heroes—a chick, a hamster, and a turtle. In each episode, they would combine their unique skill sets and rescue a poor, stranded
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Teacher/Parent Paradox
I left for work the other morning and realized that I would not see my son for another 12 plus hours. He would be at home, on his own, working through his junior year. Leading a district in COVID times
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Change is the Only Constant
Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic has been TOUGH. What many people might not know is how much work teachers, administrators, and other school personnel put in behind the scenes when decisions are made at the state or district level. Systems,
Read MoreThe Art of Not Taking It Personal
In teaching, many people have an opinion about what we do and how we do it. We might hear from parents, stakeholders, and even the students who are sitting in front of us. They will tell you what they think
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