To clarify, my students earned pajama day by making a school fundraiser goal. Did I set up the goals? You bet! I love pajama day! But not just pj day… Occasionally, I wear my “Teacher by day, Jedi by night”
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Sink or Swim?
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
Read MoreWhat Parents Really Want to Tell Teachers
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
Read MoreReform or Deform: Which is it?
Like its sister-term, “accountability,” the term “reform” has had a few minutes of fame in education this year (see this swell piece by blogger-extraordinaire Nancy Flanagan). Here, Flanagan blatantly opens her piece with the statement, “Hello my name is
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Leaving the Classroom?
So I’m reading Katy Farber’s book, Why Great Teachers Quit: And How We Might Stop the Exodus, which explores the demands, challenges, and rewards experienced by classroom teachers across the country who are staying in the trenches of public education
Read MoreAccomplished Teaching?
by Alaina As 2010 comes to a close, many of us are reflecting on our accomplishments – and things we’d like to do better in 2011. In education, teachers are doing this same kind of reflection. What is it, though, that
Read MoreWhy I Teach
by Alaina In a recent InterACT blog post, Kelly Kovacic gave a 90 second summary of why she teaches. In solidarity, bloggers in Washington and Arizona are posting blogs to pay tribute to why each of us teaches. Why do
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