Photo by Cheng Qi Huang on Unsplash In this mid-summer moment, my classroom looks like a disorganized storage room. Opening the door is a chore, not an invitation of welcome. The walls are either bare or have bits of last year hanging on...

“How do you keep teaching year after year without burning out?” Occasionally I hear this question from friends and colleagues. My reply varies somewhat depending on the listener. To be honest, I have often asked myself the same thing, and...

“Good morning…uh…uh…uh,” I said to the girl coming down the hall. Her mask was over her nose. Her hood covered her head so only her eyes peeked out. Who is the girl behind the mask? “Uh…uh…oh! Carla, it’s you,” I said as she got closer. We...

During Book Week, we had a lot of fun celebrating books and reading. Mystery Readers visited classrooms to read to students. The entire school took time to read every day. Students participated in “Bug on a Book,” and each class set a goal...

Image by brusnikina9 from Pixabay A study in questions “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40 For...

One of my memories as a seven, eight, and nine-year-old involves reading to my little sister for hours at a time. Naomi was five years younger than I and must have been a remarkably patient listener. I remember reading many of the Thornton...

Does Johnny deserve an A? Did Susie answer enough questions correctly? Can Janie read the proper amount of words from this list? Sometimes assessment is easy, if there is a definite right/wrong answer or if the answer key explicitly tells...

As an immature, proud, and inexperienced 20 year old, I applied to teach at Tidings of Peace Christian School. The administrator, who also happened to be my father, gladly accepted my willingness to serve as a teacher’s aide. The board,...

In the past few years, a spotlight has turned on child abuse, particularly child abuse in the places where children ought to be especially safe: the home, the school, and the Christian church. In an effort to curb abuse, and to help...

Over on the forums , Jane Bauman asks a question that surely vexes us all: “What are ways to help older (fully capable) students want to reach their full potential instead of trying to get by with the least amount of effort possible?”...

Photo by Ulises Baga on Unsplash The school board asked if you would be their first-grade teacher, and you said “yes”. Congratulations! An exciting journey lies before you. Perhaps you always wanted to teach and now you finally have the...

“Thank you for entrusting your children to me this year. It is a responsibility I take very seriously. Please pray for us that we may have a good year and that we will glorify God in our class.” This is the closing of the letter I send to...

In this long stretch from beginning of the school year to Thanksgiving, the “honeymoon” is over. Here are some tools or ideas that can equip you to keep going. It’s not fair! “That’s not fair! Joel got two marshmallows!” One of the...

“Are you ready for school to start?” 180 school days ago, I began a post with this question . I was looking ahead to a new school year—a new class, new textbooks, a new writing curriculum, some new colleagues, and all the potential a new...

Generation Alpha students are the children who have been born in the years after 2010. They are growing up surrounded by and often immersed in technology. They are about age twelve and younger, around grades one through six, and technology...

Photo by Elisa Michelet on Unsplash “My lunch is better than yours!” “I don’t like my drawing. Johnny can draw much nicer than I can.” “It’s not fair that math is harder for me than it is for Katie!” We elementary teachers often hear...

“Teachers have a big impact and people remember their teachers years later. I had lots of great teachers and they impacted and shaped who I am today. Whenever I think of my favorite teacher, I think of Miss B because she really cared for...

I still remember reciting the seven continents with my fellow small-bodied second graders, remember the exact rhythm and tone of our voices rising in unison: “Asia. Africa. North America. South America. Antarctica. Europe. Australia!” My...

Image by Jim Varga from Pixabay Communication can make or break your school year. From the onset, you want to be intentional on communicating your expectations to your students and patrons as well as hearing their expectations, hopes, and...

Pizza?! Y’all are ordering two pizzas? All of you are getting pizza, and none of you is going to try anything from Jamaica, Venezuela, or any of the Asian countries represented? We were eating lunch at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market in...