As another school year comes to a close, many administrative teams are making teacher assignment changes. Teachers are receiving the news that they will be moving to a new grade level team for the upcoming school year. Although this announcement can be devastating to some, the timing in hearing the news prior to summer break…

School is almost out for summer. A big concern in schools around the world is that this time off often results in a loss of learning for students. In efforts to ensure students maintain all knowledge gained from the school year, teachers assign academic projects to be completed during their summer break. These projects spiral…

In working with hundreds of new teachers as a mentor and instructional coach, the one topic that comes up every time is communication and collaboration with parents. Funny enough, when talking to my friends and family who are parents, the hot topic of discussion in regards to school and their kids is communication and collaboration with…

As my husband and I were walking the trails of Asheville this weekend for our anniversary, we started to talk about our careers. We discussed how many jobs are harder than perceived and our schools need to do a better job of ensuring students see the value of all sorts of work, not just careers…

Thrifty Thursday Each week I bring to you helpful tips to become a more effective educator on the Always A Lesson fan page on Facebook. (Give it a quick like by clicking here!) I decided to start grouping my social media posts into a blog post incase you might have missed anything. Time to get caught…

This blog post now exists on the Teachers Pay Teachers blog. The title has been altered to read “How to Respond to a Half-Right Student Answer.” One area I struggled in when teaching was accepting half-right answers from my students. They would be on the right track when answering one of my questions, and I’d…

I am currently reading “Never Underestimate your Teachers” by Robyn Jackson. I was hooked on her approach to education after reading her book “Never Work Harder than your Students.” Her perspective reminds us all just how brilliant students and teachers are if we adjust our approach in relating to them so that their strengths are…

Professional development [PD] is often an experience where novices learn from experts. In education, this generally means bringing in a consultant of some kind to lead a very dry, boring information session. There is little practical application and no time to practice. During my career, I have endured many ineffective PD sessions. However, a principal…

It’s no secret that I absolutely love being an educator. I have shared my story numerous times and I realize it is rare for someone to know in early childhood what they wanted to be when they grew up and then never divert from that plan until it came to fruition. It was a dream…

It’s no secret that I love books. As a teacher, whenever someone offered to donate items to my classroom I almost always said books. As a mother, the first items I purchased for my baby girl were cute clothes and of course books. She was going to be stylish and smart, even though she didn’t…