The simplified story is that one of my students cried after I made her pick up garbage for a day. The real story goes more like this: Each trimester, I take my students on a service learning field trip. We spend a morning volunteering at a local homeless shelter. In the afternoon, students pick up…
Tag: teaching
The 9 Types of People Ruining Your School Email
I love 5% of the “reply all” emails I get at school. Wait . . . I hate 100% of the “reply all” emails I get at school. I only love the 5% of reply alls that get hijacked by my smart ass colleagues who turn them into jokes. Take the day we got notice…
EDU TERM: Soul Janthem
“I Found My Smile Again” by D’Angelo is keeping me going these first few weeks. Post your Soul Janthem and share with a teacher you know!
Podcasting with Weston Kieschnick
This final sprint at the end of the school year is always chaos. Between teaching, grading, organizing my hot mess of a room, trying to motivate the end-of-the-year sloths called students, and trying to motivate the end-of-the-year sloth called myself, life is jam packed. However, one thing I will always make time for is connecting…
23 Practices for a Thriving Life
This is part one in a series on nurturing thriving learners from AffectiveLiving and WeAreTeachers. “Why do people go to school?” This is one of my favorite questions to ask my students. “Because we have to,” is usually the first thing I hear. But they know my response to what I call “have-to-ism:” You don’t…
Free eBook: G Words – 20 Strategies for Fostering Grit and Growth Mindset
Hi all, After months of drafting, adding, and re-writing, I’ve finally finished a collection of strategies I’ve used to help cultivate grit and growth mindset in thousands of students. This beefy 60 pager is free for anyone, no strings attached. Just click on the link below (or the “free ebook” menu option). Below the image is…
What it’s like to be a kid with OCD (and what teachers can do to help)
One of my greatest thrills is helping my students share their experiences, their passions, and their lessons in writing. So, I’m geeked to share the following post my student, Bailee Rieman, wrote for WeAreTeachers. Check it out. What It’s Like to Be a Kid With OCD by Bailee Rieman “I don’t want to live anymore.” I said…
[VIDEO] Is Teaching Worth It?
For all the great educators I’ve met, including those who are soon to lend their passion and talents to the field. Please share this with an educator you know! Huge gratitude to Kevin Romeo, Daniel Juan Martinez and the whole RHINO MEDIA PRODUCTIONS team, as my student volunteers.
Why I have faith in American educators: I see America teaching
Traveling always strengthens and reaffirms my faith in teachers across America. Read on for a reflection I wrote for WeAreTeachers during a recent stint to work with a small village in Alaska. For years I’ve been teaching. For these same years I’ve been exposed to conversations about teachers in America. Each day I hear people talk about what…
7 Books About the Brain Every Teacher Should Read
My wife and I love to play a game called, “Y’know what blows my mind?” It consists of one of us randomly ranting about things that blow our mind — things beyond our comprehension. Outer space. How tiny humans grow inside larger humans. How our voices can be made into invisible data, thrown into the…
What Kills Student Motivation? We Asked Them.
“What are your thoughts on student motivation?” my principal recently asked. Knowing that I have an interest in motivation, as well as a love of working with at-risk students, he wanted to know my thoughts on why our achievement gap wasn’t narrowing. As a teacher, I of course had many thoughts. But, the many thoughts…
How Academic Risk-Taking Dies in the Classroom
Picture a baby. A fresh one. Straight out of the womb. It’s probably making a bunch of noise. It’s probably gross looking (let’s be honest: this whole “cute newborn” thing is a myth). Despite the grossness of this baby, it came into the world wired with a certain skill set. On a résumé, this baby…
