Traditionally, grades have been viewed as a black-and-white point value or percentage that corresponds with a letter on a given scale. These letters and percentages have been assigned meaning through various educational stakeholders to the degree that influential and important decisions are made using them. This ABCDF grading scale is mistakenly perceived as fair and… Continue reading One Teacher’s Argument Supporting Standards-Based Grading Reform

As I listen to friends and family of mine talk about their work, I’m consistently reminded of how lucky I am to do what I do. Not because of the summer and holidays off, or because of the highly coveted schedule (because doesn’t everyone love to answer 5,000 questions before 8:00 am?!). Not because of… Continue reading Teaching is more than a job- It’s a vocation.

In June I attended the FIRST Educational Resources conference, and it was seriously awesome. I enjoyed all of the sessions I went to, and definitely had a lot of great takeaways. It was a great kickstart to the 2017-2018 school year. There were some fantastic conversations, sessions, and resources about learning-based assessment and grading, the… Continue reading The “Real World”

Summer. The sunshine and relaxation are finally here after the longest month of May I ever thought possible. There have been so many posts, memes, open letters, Tweets, etc. etc. about how teachers really don’t get the summer off. We are still busy readying ourselves for the coming year, planning lessons, buying supplies, and all… Continue reading Hitting the Reset Button

Many of us teachers have a subject area preference. We tend to be hyper-aware of our strengths and weaknesses, and our teacher preparation classes have taught us to be highly reflective. As a result, we also know how we learn best and what methods of study work most effectively for us. Additionally, we have interests… Continue reading Why Switching Subject Areas Was the Best Thing to Happen to Me

The notion of teaching grammar is one that is controversial among educators, and it tends to bring about polarized viewpoints. The word grammar itself is enough to invoke an anxious reaction of shaking and heavy breathing among most people, some teachers included. For others, it brings about a sense of excitement and satisfaction at the… Continue reading Grammatically Correct

Getting our students to read can be one of the toughest challenges that language arts teachers face. We’ve all heard every reason out there for why our kids don’t want to pick up a book, or why they simply cannot do it. “I have no time because of homework”, “I can’t find a book I… Continue reading Why I Spend So Much Money on a Classroom Library

As a language arts teacher, the growing inability to critically analyze media, especially news media, can be disheartening. We are in the business of teaching our students to become critical thinkers, especially when reading and responding to content they read. Due to the increase in “fake news” that exists and the prevalence of news on… Continue reading Teaching News Bias Without Being Biased