and living life one day- and book- at a time
Two months ago I was diagnosed at the age of 53 with ADHD. Upon speaking with other adults, it’s not something that is unusual. Much of our symptoms are combined with other things such as anxiety, stress, and our mental health that many doctors fail to realize that perhaps those things are a direct correlation …
There is a clear difference between children and adults in how they handle put downs. I think if it came down to it, I’d be more upset over another colleague saying something than I would a student. It’s how we handle conflict. As an adult, you begin to master the art of “oh well.” Lately, …
In my classroom, the switch to discontinue lecture and teaching specific texts for teaching reading skills. Prior to this year, I had taught through lecture, and while I was secondary certified, I was comfortable with teaching certain pieces of literature. I thought that was what ELA was all about. I could use specific pieces of …
One of the benefits to our school district changing over to a year round schedule (not really year round, but close) is that it offers an opportunity for a long week and a half break after each 9 weeks. The good thing is that you can relax and rejuvenate yourself before starting another 9 weeks. …
I realized recently that there is a huge discrepancy between when I first taught this unit and now. The discrepancy is that my students then could read, and if they couldn’t, they sure had me fooled. As I stood at the front of the classroom with my copy of the article in my hand and …
This week I started teaching my anti-bullying unit. It’s one that I developed after going to a professional development, and because it is mine- and a topic that is close to my heart- I love teaching this unit. I wanted to find a way to incorporate our informational text in with a novel study, and …
Today as I was sitting in a meeting with my fellow co-workers, I realized that perhaps my patience -the patience of a saint- isn’t a gift after all. Perhaps maybe it is a flaw. It’s no secret that this year’s group of students have tested that patience. The patience that I pride myself for having. …
When I was in college, I was often told: Don’t smile until after November. The reason behind this is that in order to have effective classroom management, your students need to know that you mean business. What they don’t tell you is that it’s difficult to do that when you cycle up with the students. …
When it comes to writing, students can be intimidated by it. Especially narrative writing and writing short stories. They stare at a blank page and have no clue what to write about or even where to start if they have an idea. To help with this, I reached into my file cabinet and pulled out …
This year I’ve been reminded that bullying is a terrible experience. I have students bullying me the same way that I was bullied in school growing up. I used to hate my last name because being called Miss Thirsty or being asked if I was Thirsty was plain torture. And leave it to my students …