Holiday season entails multiple well-meaning, sincere people asking me the impossibly broad question “how is school?” This question is ripe with possibility; one word does not suffice nor often does an entire conversation. When asked this question by people I love, I simply want to...
I am a first year teacher at Treadwell Elementary and teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to first and second graders. As an ESL teacher, I provide language support to small groups of multilingual students for one hour each day....
As you may or may not know, planning and preparing for a self-contained classroom can be a bit much. Between phonics, grammar, comprehension, writing, vocabulary, math, science, social studies, and guided reading plans PLUS all of the manipulatives and station work you have to create,...
Author: David Montague, MTR Executive Director MTR will honor Dr. King in a variety of ways this spring in remembrance of his life and death 50 years ago this April 4th. This post – a short review of his Letter from Birmingham Jail - is but...
One of the first smiling faces I saw when I walked into W.H. Brewster Elementary was of the principal, Dr. Angela Askew. I was immediately drawn to her warm personality. Our meeting gave me insight as to who she is as a person and as...
One of the hardest parts about teaching is that so much of it is in your own mind. Even though I’m in a room full of children, the experience often feels independent. I know the questions running through my mind are sometimes miles away from...
Every day of my residency year, my mentor teacher and I split students into three groups, one with my mentor, one with me, and one working on a computer program. A few months into my first year of teaching, my principal told me I needed...
The world of education is a place of constant change. It takes an outstanding educator to adapt and maintain excellence through those changes. Mrs. Hawkins exhibits excellence in her classroom daily. Her excellence can be described in many words, but I have chosen...
An alarm rings at 6:30 am. My mind begins to come up with excuses to get out of this obligation. I take a deep breathe and exhale. Getting out of bed this early on a Saturday is the last thing I want to...
AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. AVID is not just a class, not just a program, but a lifestyle. As the AVID elective teacher, my days consist of ensuring that ninth graders are using their agendas, staying organized, and properly tracking their grades. As...