I write a lot about happiness and balance. But sometimes, no matter what, teaching can just be plain overwhelming. There have been moments when I’ve felt so overwhelmed I wanted to walk out the door and never come back. Fortunately, those days are far behind me. Luck has nothing to do with it though. Instead,…
The True Measure of Success–Kid Style
Every Wednesday we have morning meetings in my classroom. They are kid-facilitated, with topics ranging from their challenges to their compliments to anything involving other students. Now and then, I “take over” and steer our morning meetings toward topics pertinent at that moment. For example, the Wednesday we were to visit their respective middle schools,…
Top 5 Ways to Deal With Change
This past week our school’s fifth graders began their transition to sixth grade with a field trip to the local middle school. If you’ve been reading Being Teacher a while, you may remember that this time of year is bittersweet for me. I’m happy they’re growing. But I’m sad to see them leave. We all…
How to Be the Perfect Teacher
Every perfect teacher in the world is one who is completely herself, always. My son is that age when he wishes he were like everyone else. I remember exactly how that feels. At his age I believed three things about myself: 1) I would never have a boyfriend, 2) I would never make the high…
3 Things You Should Know About Neurodiversity
A few weeks ago our instructional coach played a video about a concept gaining in popularity—neurodiversity. Being the nerd that I am about the brain, my ears perked up. Neurodiversity is a concept where neurological differences—such as autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and sensory processing disorder—are seen (and valued) as part of normal human diversity. That normal…
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