Posts By : “Alaina Adams”

I’m Back!

August 3, 2015Alaina Adams Education, Education Policy, Life in the Classroom, National Board Certification, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized

Yes, it’s true: I have left my position working with adult learners at the Arizona K12 Center to return to a teaching position in the Phoenix Union High School District this year. Why? I can’t tell you how many times

Swan Song

May 16, 2012Alaina Adams Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Literacy, Mentoring, National Board Certification, Parent Involvment, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership

Every year, during Teacher Appreciation week (last week), one of our Spanish teachers invites students to write a thank-you letter in Spanish (with an English translation) to give to one teacher. Every year, I get a few of these letters

Leaving.

April 16, 2012Alaina Adams Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, National Board Certification, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership

On January 24th of last year, I wrote a blog in which I wondered when teacher-leaders like me might know when it’s time to leave the classroom. I even used the word “sacriligious” when contemplating the idea… And then, almost

Teacher Eval: Hunger Games Style

April 2, 2012Alaina Adams Assessment, Education, Elementary, Games, Life in the Classroom, Literacy, Mathematics, Mentoring, National Board Certification, Parent Involvment, Professional Development, Social Issues, Sports, Teacher Leadership

Yes, the geeky-English teacher that I am has jumped all over The Hunger Games craze. Yes, I’ve coerced all of my students into buying the book to use in class, most of us have seen the movie, plan to blog

Teacher Whisperers Wanted

November 17, 2011Alaina Adams Assessment, Books, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership

To dramatically improve teaching and learning nationwide, structural changes and out-of-the-box thinking are needed. The most quality solutions will involve new layers of teacher support and leadership. I think the chart below speaks for itself. I mean, if horses have

What Would Your IEP Say?

November 10, 2011Alaina Adams Education, Education Policy, Life in the Classroom, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership

So I show up for work this morning and immediately have to deal with a challenging student. This kid is the typical, “emotionally disturbed” kid who is strategically placed so that if he throws himself onto the floor in an

Protecting the Teacher AllSpark

October 17, 2011Alaina Adams Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, National Board Certification, Parent Involvment, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership, Web/Tech, Weblogs

I read Bill Ferriter’s blog this week about the story of Mitchell 20, a movie about 20 Phoenix elementary teachers who chose to pursue National Board certification as a way to take control of the one thing they could control:

Sink or Swim?

October 3, 2011Alaina Adams Books, Education, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership

Each year, I host teaching interns or student teachers (or both) as they move through teacher-preparation programs through local universities. During this process I am able to “pay things forward” by coaching other inspired people to be the best teachers

What Parents Really Want to Tell Teachers

September 18, 2011Alaina Adams Education, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Parent Involvment, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership

Personal Facebook friends of mine know that, from time to time, I post links, blogs and overall feelings about the teaching profession in addition to the usual, daily things like, “Alaina Adams is eating Frosted Flakes right now.” On September

NCLB-Common Core-Value-Added-Limerick-of-all-Limericks

September 1, 2011Alaina Adams Assessment, Education, Education Policy, Life in the Classroom, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership

There once was a passionate teacher, Who cheered with her students in bleachers. Then bubble sheets came, "Data management” reigned, And now her students can’t reach her. *Sometimes, a seemingly-nonsensical poem just says thingsbest.

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