“I went into teaching so that I could help children perform well on standardized testing,” said no teacher, ever.

My students needed to experience success. And they needed to see that their writing could impact a broader audience than the one held captive each day in their classroom.

I recently observed a high school science lesson that left me feeling like I had just swished some super-minty Listerine. I was refreshed. I was inspired…so much so, in fact, that I built and entire upcoming PD session around my takeaway from this lesson. I will return to this in just a moment.

Are you interested in improving student engagement with your ELL students? Here’s an idea that I tried at my elementary school that was both fun and successful—a Rubik’s Cube club.

The Spread the Net Student Challenge is a friendly competition between Canadian schools to raise funds for malaria-preventing bed nets for families in Africa.

I avidly recall a second grade class that would excitedly huddle around my rocking chair for story time. Students scrambled around sliding chairs to the carpet where I read heartwarming and sometimes zany tales, they reminded me that story time was counted among the most meaningful and cherished moments of a child’s day. Story time is a child’s portal into endless worlds, kingdoms, and dimensions.

It’s said that there is always a blessing in dark times, and this was it: my chance to share my 1970s childhood with 25 children of 2020.

To help boys succeed in school they need to feel connected.

I began the school year in a classroom with eighteen standard desks. Today, I have none. This isn’t a lament about budgetary constraints or overcrowded classrooms; it’s a deliberate choice.