When I had my own classroom, I couldn’t help but think about ways to help my students make sense of the big events happening in the world around them. Sometimes adults assume teenagers aren’t paying attention to anything outside of themselves, but my 16 years in the classroom taught me that the opposite is true. They […]

He presented his “Me” Poster to his 23 classmates yesterday. “The teacher told me I had to speak up,” he said. “Your friends wanted to hear you.” “I did it. But I was nervous,” he said. “It’s totally normal to be nervous for that,” I coached. “But you were brave.” “I was brave,” he concurred. […]

It’s my first year not returning to my own classroom. Today, as all my colleagues returned for their first day of professional development, I was across town collaborating with my new teammates designing learning experiences for teachers and reaching out to the teachers who I’ll be working with to offer support. Even though I won’t […]

I’m a teacher. The classroom is my second home. For 16 years, my whole adult life, I’ve gone to work each day in a school. I’ve spent my time reading and writing with teenagers. I’ve learned and grown and innovated and changed. I’ve been frustrated and underappreciated and questioned. I’ve chaperoned field trips, helped design […]

I’ve never really been a fan of exams. I certainly don’t like the standardized kind and I’m not really even a fan of teacher-created tests to show what my students have learned in my class. Have I written and given tests in the last 16 years? Certainly. Have some of those tests helped me to see […]

Since I presented at the Innovation Summit a few weeks ago, I’ve gotten a few inquiries from teachers who want to start blogging with students but they aren’t sure how to start. Or where to start. Or what they should emphasize first. I’ve written them back with quick answers to their questions about choosing a […]

I’ve been stuck. You might have noticed that I’ve been missing from this space for over a month – something that hasn’t happened in the last 7 years of blogging. I’m not sure that I’ve missed writing, really. I’ve thought about it. I’ve written snippets here and there that never met the publish button. But […]

“Someone in another state really read my blog?” “I got a comment from a real expert! How’d you do that?” “You’re like our agent, Miss. You’re my number one promoter.” For the last five weeks, my students have been working towards publishing an op-ed. We read examples that I provided by writers who I admire. They […]

  Six years ago, when I sat down to type my very first blog post, I had no idea how much that decision would shape me. How much I’d grow as a writer and a member of a community. How much I’d come to rely on this space to figure myself out. How much writing […]

Their hearts break and adults tell them to get over it because teens don’t understand true love anyway. They miss deadlines and adults warn that they better watch out for the big bad “real” world. They take selfies and adults call them selfish because they only see them looking at themselves and not looking for […]