Last year at my school we had a huge problem with tardies.  

Let me paint the picture for you.  

We have about 1000 students at my middle school. 

On any given day we had about 120 period tardies.  That means tardies between classes.  

We also had a problem of students just aimlessly walking t...

What does your first day of school look like?

Is it Ice Breakers, Introductions, Story Telling, Down to Business, or a combination of all of them together?

Over the years I have changed what I do the first day and week of school but for the past 10 years I have pretty much done the same thing. 

D...

I can't believe the time is here.  

Time to put away the bathing suits and suntan lotion and pick up a dry erase maker and textbooks.  The summer like always went by to fast. 

My school year started 1 week ago.  The first day was our school's professional development day.  The second day was the...

People outside the educational field may think teachers have it easy.  I can see why. 

We have 5 hours with students per day. 

We have weekends off. 

We have all major holidays off. 

We also have other days off that most occupations don't have.  

On paper the life of a teacher seems like a br...

So you did everything you needed to do in order to become a teacher. 

You got your B.A. Degree from a University.

You passed those wonderful test that show you know your subject matter.

You completed your CPR and other trainings. 

You put your hours in and finished your Student Teaching.

You ...

Just like the first few minutes of class will determine the tone of the class period, the first week of school will set the tone for the remaining school year. 

I use the first week of school to communicate my expectations and set the ground work for a supportive classroom culture. 

I do not cov...

My summer break is almost at and end and I start school in about another 2 weeks.  Only 2 more weeks.  Hopefully you have a little longer. 

At my school we are trying to put some support systems in to help our new teachers as well as any teachers that may struggle with the beginning of the year. 

As far as teachers go I am one of the old ones.  

I am 51 years old and I have been teaching for 20 years.   

The question that needs to be answered is, "Can you teach an old dog new tricks?"

The answer is yes but it may take a little more convincing since we can sometimes be set in our ways.  ...

Over my 20 year teaching career I have had over 10 principals and these past 5 years I have had 5 principals.  

That means on average I have had about 1 new principal ever 2 years.  

That is crazy.  

As I think about all of the principals that I have worked with a couple of them stand out.  

S...

20 YEARS

I have been teaching for 20 years and to be honest I know how blessed I am to be doing a job that I love.  It was not always that way but at this point in my career I am so thankful for the way my life has unfolded. 

When I first starting teaching my oldest daughter was just born and no...

There is a lot to classroom management but one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself is creating effective and manageable routines. 

We had a speaker come to my campus a few weeks ago to talk about Multiple Tiers of Student Support (MTSS).  

The main idea behind MTSS is that you can get...

No seriously, what is the point of grades?

I have been teaching 20 years and at first I lived and died by the grades I issued, but the older I have gotten I have started to question our grading system.  

Think about it.  Why do we issue grades?

The reasons I still have grades in my class is bec...