Our Blog: The Standard

Differentiation. For some, this single word describes their entire teaching practice. This same word, though, causes heart palpitations in many others. Our job description gets longer with no sign of reprieve (or appropriate pay, but hey, that’s for a different blog). Differentiating feels like the icing on the top of the unattainable cake. In this new strange era of hybrid/remote learning, where reaching students has never felt more challenging, effective differentiation has never been more important. My hope is to provide you with ways to start today, without increasing your workload or changing your practice. What differentiating is…and what it…

I’m staring out at my classroom. The tables are all facing one way, front and center. Tape designates each chair’s placement. I hesitated to put up decorations in my new classroom because I’m not sure what decorations are even allowed right now. Everything simply feels eerily – cold. Let me be clear. I did not expect this school year to be “normal.” However, I was optimistic about the challenges and opportunities for growth. I would be remiss, however, to neglect the fact that in our hybrid setting, everything has been completely turned on its head. Bathroom breaks for students and…

It’s hard to compete with an octopus – no, not at arm wrestling – but at capturing and sustaining a young reader’s attention. Three hearts – in one body!  Blue blood — the real, not fake princess, stuff!  But just as COVID-19 changed how we teach, it’s time to change what we teach. As much as I love books about animals, we need to turn inward and learn more about us humans. Unlike cars, people don’t come with owner’s manuals, and the pandemic blew open the hood to expose a U.S. population that is health illiterate.  The National Assessment of…

The surge in media coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests overwhelmingly exposes systemic oppression within our country’s institutions. Of such institutions, public education embodies an oppressive system adversely impacting various ethnic subgroups. Studies indicate that inequitable structures in education sustain negative outcomes for Black male students, especially those with disabilities (Booker, 2018). Inequitable structures include, (but are not limited to), biased standardized testing, a lack of resources, inexperienced teachers (Harris, Ingle & Rutledge, 2016). Distant learning amplifies structural inequities for disadvantaged African American male students with ADHD. The inequity of e-learning is amplified by the…

“I don’t wear a cape. I teach.” “Teaching is my superpower, what’s yours?” I had been enticed to become a teacher nearly two decades ago with inspiring slogans such as these. I was totally committed to teaching my heart out and helping children be their best and brightest selves. I pledged with all my heart to become a “teacher hero” for my students. With this calling in mind, I worked tirelessly to craft engaging lessons, build community partnerships, and create authentic assessments. I created rubrics, anchor charts, and self-reflections. I worked hard daily to meet the standards in interesting hands-on ways.…

The following column is courtesy of the Alabama Best Practices Center in Montgomery.  Movement restrictions aimed to slow down the spread of COVID19 have brought about a time of connectedness and isolation for many people. As days have turned into weeks and weeks into months, it’s clear that people have experienced similar yet different problems and challenges. For some, spending more time with household family members was time long overdue. Even so, many found it challenging to spend 24 hours a day, week after week, without much personal time and space. Then there are the single-person households where there wasn’t anyone but…

The landscape in the United States is heavy with turmoil and change. We live in a national education climate that has changed, whether it is acknowledged or not because COVID-19 is changing the way students learn.   Adding to the complexity is the Black Lives Matter Movement, which has opened a discussion about how Black people, my people, are treated. The initial protests ignited as a reaction to police brutality, generated a sense of urgency to address inequity and racism. Many fellow educators announced their unmasked feelings using social media. People are waiting for educational leaders to address equity issues that…

Kudos to all of the teachers who have kept their students engaged during our time away from school. When presented with the challenges of distance learning, I asked myself, how will I manage to get my students excited about learning at home? I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task!  The first thing I worked on was establishing a feeling of connectedness. Using Google Classroom, I came together with my students each day and started with a morning message in our Daily Message classroom. I discussed things to be excited about during the week and observations I had…

It’s the first day of summer! This is the time of year children look forward to all year long; however, due to the COVID -19 pandemic, this year may not be what children imagined. Instead of playing Tag, Musical Chairs, or Red Rover, children are now being forced to play Simon Says… and Simon says: Pause! If anything this “Great Pause” has taught us, is that we should always remember to make our health and well-being a priority, without forgetting that social connections are essential to nearly every aspect of health and well-being. Results from the lack of prolonged social…