There are few enjoyable moments during testing as a teacher. But I find sometimes magic moments come out of it. This year as I was proctoring the AASA test to the English as a Second Language students, I had a
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Pat on the Back
Yesterday my students took the ACT. Not only is it a college placement test, the ACT also counts as our state’s required test for the year. It is a lot of pressure on my juniors, but as their English teacher,
Read MoreThe Struggle is Real
When my students returned from winter break last month, our 3rd grade team promptly began a 5 week unit on fractions. These students were
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Reason #437 to love your IAs
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,
Read MoreYou can do it!
Last week I made an announcement to my class: “Soon we start district testing. You know what that means; desks in rows, dividers on your desks and updating our goals!”. Despite a few groans, I heard many cheers when the
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Mi Viaje al Bilinguismo
This year, I made the decision to stop playing around and start making Spanish my second language. I currently teach grades 4-5 and my motivator was watching my Spanish speaking students work harder than their peers due to language barriers.
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Why is Student Growth Different This Year?
“Teachers are working so hard teaching virtually, but the students’ test scores showed that they did not make the growth we were expecting,” my principal said. “Why do you think that might be?” She asked me. At this point, I
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Readiness for Remote Learning in Our Innovative School
Since Arizona closed schools March 16, like my Stories from School colleagues and many other people around the world, I have experienced alternating episodes of hope, tears, escapism, distress, mental dispersal, zen, joy,
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Why Am I Teaching This Way?
Have you ever thought, “Why am I doing this activity? What is the point?” A common response from veteran teachers is something like, “I’ve done it this way for ___ years!” A few years ago, I would say something similar
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