August 29, 2023
We often tell students to “listen,” but there’s a good chance we aren’t actually teaching them how to do it. And there’s an even stronger likelihood that they (and we) don’t under...
September 13, 2022
In the August 19 th edition of Edutopia, “3 Habits of Highly Effective Teacher Teams” , Paige Tutt recommend three activities for grade-level and subject-area teams as they try t...
July 18, 2022
Having a paraprofessional's support is essential to student learning in many classrooms. The teacher-parapro relationship is a tricky one to navigate for some people. Discussing w...
October 26, 2020
The Spring
Like most educators, I was stressed about what the school year would look like this fall. I think the spring was a trauma for most educators that none of us wants to...
September 16, 2020
We’ve heard it repeatedly: this school year will be nothing like we’ve ever experienced. Districts and teachers are creatively finding solutions to the barriers they encounter to ...
July 1, 2020
This spring and summer are unlike any other. Staying at home during a pandemic impacted many educators as we juggled working from home with other demands. Many of us were/are str...
March 16, 2020
Visit the following link for e-learning and learn-at-home resources for educators and families: http://bit.ly/LearnAtHome2020
August 26, 2019
I dropped my son off for his first day of first grade last week and felt lots of emotions. I thought this year would be easier; after all, he’s done it before.
I cried.
Bec...
February 1, 2019
Last August, my boss and I traveled across East Central Illinois visiting rural school districts, pitching the idea of instructional coaching to district administrators. We explai...
December 19, 2018
I sat with my kindergartner as he practiced writing his sight words. “Ugh!” He said, exasperated, “I messed up. I’m not very good at this.” He was in his second month of school an...
November 30, 2018
I was reading through e-mails this morning and came across one from Jennifer Abrams. She is a new teacher coach, and she blogs about communication, particularly among professional...
September 14, 2018
I was at a local coffee shop over the summer with my family, and while we waited on our meal, I looked over their bulletin board. Lost dog posters and service flyers populated the...