I love my district. I really do! And as a teacher, I thrive on data, but I hate the process we have to go through in order to get the data. We used to proctor benchmark tests for math, ELA,
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A Valentine for Teachers
I think secondary education teachers may underestimate the power of Valentine’s Day in an elementary school setting. Having traveled up to teaching science in a middle school after teaching for seven years in 1st and 2nd grade, I brought many
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Teacher Retention
Teacher retention It’s February, time to start thinking about next school year. Already??!! At my site, we are planning for state testing in April in addition to planning for summer school. Our admin is already sending out emails about what
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Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Reflections of a NBCT
I first saw the fireworks in December 2018. I added those four little letters to my email signature, and then my life began to change. I was a National Board Certified Teacher! Immediately after becoming an NBCT, I got a
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Free School Breakfast? Thank a Panther!
The Black Panthers, in my opinion, represent Black independence and autonomy. They impacted my life growing up through education and real-life examples of African Americans who positively impact their communities. In fact, their contributions have positively impacted millions of Americans,
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Tiered Interventions
It’s the alphabet soup of interventions! MTSS – Multi-tiered system of support RTI – Response to intervention EI – Early intervention IFSP – Individualized Family Service Plan EBP – Evidence-Based Practice IEP – individualized education plan PBIS – Positive behavior
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CommunityShare: The Human Library
“Sara! I am so inspired!” That is what I heard each month when my colleague, Rebecca Oravec, would call me after her CommunityShare Fellowship meetings a few years ago. Our principal sent out an invite to participate in a monthly
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Yay for Climate Change?
I have to start this with a disclaimer. I have been wanting to write about this topic for a while, but did not want to talk about how horrible the effects have been. I finally found a way to discuss
Read MoreKnock, Knock
“Hi Ms. Brinkman, do you remember me?”- is a sentence I am beginning to hear more and more as I advance in my teaching career. Having been at the same school for my entire career, (17) the benefit is having
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Funding Woes
Aggregate expenditure limit…you may have heard this term recently, or maybe you remember the panic last year as the AEL loomed over public schools. Either way, be ready to hear about this term again as the deadline to override it
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