Category: education
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Public or Private
Over the years, my thought process has changed significantly in terms of the system of education I support. I have gone from believing in the critical need for private Christian education to protect from the cesspool of public school to strong support of the public school system despite its flaws which I try actively to…
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Education and Race
It should come as no surprise to anyone that education holds a special place in my heart. From my youngest years, I knew I wanted to become a teacher. That journey took quite a few twists and turns before I got to the point where I have arrived now. part of that journey, my three…
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The End
I never imagined that the year would end like this. On Monday, April 20th, the governor announced that in-person classes would not resume this school year. When they first announced the then temporary closure, I knew it would last longer than the initial 10 days with a niggling suspicion that school would not resume. By…
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Thinking About the Next Steps
When you reflect on your teaching practice with the goal of becoming the best educator you can be, you learn to look at the whole child, to see their needs and their strengths. You learn how to help them and hold them accountable. If done right, you cannot help but become intricately invested in these…
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Teach Every Student
In every school you find them, those teachers who appear to hate or at the very least dislike kids, the ones who most frequently complain yet demand appreciation from everyone for their daily sacrifices, the ones who balk when asked to try something new to help the students in their care. Many things over the…
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Full but not Overwhelmed
I knew that once school started, I would have a lot on my plate. I had normal everyday school obligations plus the ones I have taken on voluntarily. Last week and the week before I had something right after school every day which meant that I did not get home until after six. The work…
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Thirst for Knowledge and Challenge
I have discussed this before but as I sat in a full day of grad classes for my school leadership degree, I believed that I should revisit the topic. It is something consuming a large portion of my mind (at the time of writing since I had a lot of time on my hands to…
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Saying Goodbye
In two days, I will walk out the doors of my school as an employee for the last time. I knew that this day might come but always hoped that it would not. Even with all of the chaos, inconsistency, and lack of communication, I knew that I had found a place where my heart…
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Relationship Building and Field Trips
When this post goes live, I will be somewhere in the nation’s capital, guiding 29 seventh graders through history, opening their eyes, hopefully, to things they have never seen before. This trip marks the fifth field trip I have organized, led, or participated in this school year. Many teachers look at field trips as burdens…
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Politics and Education
Over the past couple years, a protest movement has spread across the country, driven primarily by classroom teachers. Some well-known protests and strikes took place in the following states and cities. In Oklahoma, teachers left the classroom in strike for over a week. Several other states, like West VIrginia, followed shortly thereafter. This past January,…