As teachers we are asked to play so many roles (teacher, nurse, counselor, and etc.) and take on so many responsibilities (yard duty, grading, teaching, and etc.)

So when the administration decides to add one more thing to our plate, how can they be surprised if we push back. 

Now don’t get me w...

I was talking with my mom this past weekend and she always brings up that she is the first one to suggest that I should be a teacher

“I always said you should be a teacher because you are so patient”.

Those are her exact words.  

Now don’t get me wrong, patience is important in teaching but, af...

Have you heard of these words before.  

Collaboration

WICOR

SMART Goals

One of the biggest pet peeves I have regarding becoming a teacher is all of the courses we take that talk about different strategies.  

And when we finally make it into the classroom we are hit with the reality that none ...

I have several pet peeves in education and one of them that is at the top of my list is when I hear people say, "We need to teach students how to behave".  

What?

No don't get me wrong if we are talking about Elementary School I can see that in the lower grades but by the time they get to me (8t...

What would your school if students were habitually late to class?  

We have about 1000 students and on average we had about 400 tardies a day.  That is outrageous.  

Just to clarify I am not talking about students late to school I am talking about students late between classes.   There is no reaso...

I have heard it so many times from other teachers about how excited they were for a new school year,  and how things were going to be different this year.  

They go into the school year expecting the best and hope for change.  

But as the saying goes, "Hope is not strategy".  

I can honestly sa...

How many times have you heard, "Make sure to communicate your expectations to students'!  

I truly agree with that statement but what I found out over the years is that it is not so much what you say but what you do that holds credibility with your students.  

The week before my very first day of ...

I was listening to a Podcast the other day and the speaker was talking about the differences between rules and procedures.  

I never thought about it before but the more he spoke I started to piece together what he was saying. 

Rules are put in place as a way of informing the students what not t...

When I was a brand new teacher I use to pee in my pants every time I needed to talk to parents. 

How do I go about telling parents that their precious son or daughter is acting horrible in my class?

What do I do if they start to blame me for their child's behavior?

What happens if they contact ...

When you first walk into my classroom one of the first things you will notice is that I have a timer running at the front of the room. 

It is nothing fancy.  Just a digital timer I bought off of Amazon for about 50 dollars.  To be honest if I had to do it again I would of spent a little more for ...

One of the weirdest things happened to me yesterday.  I was walking into another teachers classroom and standing at the back of the room was the Teacher Aide.  

I never saw her before, well at least I thought I never saw her before.  

As I got closer she said, "Mr. Vigil".  

I must of titled my h...

When I first started my three biggest challenges were:

1. Classroom Management

2. Classroom Culture

3. Classroom Decorations

Over the 20 years I have gotten really good at classroom management and creating a positive, safe classroom culture.  Decorating is still a huge shortcoming for me but I...