Move On When Reading (MOWR) is a policy currently in effect with the intention of preparing students to be proficient readers by 3rd grade so they are properly prepared to enter 4th. This leads to the questions: What is so
Read More
Discipline and Grades Matter in Sports
This past week I was asked to coach basketball again at my old romping grounds at Scottsdale Community College. The alumni game is a new tradition that takes place every year prior to the regular season and I was
Read More
Why Not Have Norms for Email, Too?
Pretty much every staff meeting, PLC meeting, and professional training in education starts by listing the norms by which participants should abide. The idea is keep the meeting focused and efficient. A typical list includes things like equity of voice, responsible
Read More
A Student of My Students First
The question I had been waiting for… “So, Mrs. Maloney, where are you in terms of the pacing guide?” I knew that it would come during one of our “data chats” in which teachers check in with our administration team
Read More
Riding the #EdWave and Diving Deeper into Teacher Leadership
Last spring, when 70,000 teachers flooded the Capitol to make five demands known, there were as many leaders as followers. Educators flexed the bullhorn, organized a band, wrote initiatives, arranged meetings with lawmakers, trained people to circulate petitions, set up
Read More
Fire in the Hole!
In 2010, the AZ State Legislature ended funding for a program called the Early Childhood Block Grant [ECBG]. The loss of money was a devastating blow to many school organizations. In the district where I worked, the ECBG funds were
Read More
Creating Student Voice in the Classroom
We are living in a culture where everyday people become active participants in their environment (YouTube, reporting the news through their cell phones, co-teaching with the instructor in a gym class, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.). Why should education be any
Read More
My Advice for Newly Elected Arizona Leaders
I am a proud product of Arizona’s public schools. I am a native born Arizonan who spent her formative years in the Paradise Valley School District. I earned a degree from Northern Arizona University and have worked in schools both
Read More
To Read or Not To Read? I Need Your Feedback!
Some days you feel like a rock star teacher. Your lesson goes off without a hitch. Your students ask poignant, critical questions. They submit quality assignments. You think, “I’ve have got this!” But other days you feel like you are
Read More
A Snow Day Solution
When I moved from Pennsylvania to Flagstaff, I spent a good deal of time explaining to my friends and family that yes, it does indeed snow in Arizona. As we gear up for winter in the mountains, my thoughts have
Read More