Time stood still and all else faded as I gazed at my newborn son. After 3 years of trying to get pregnant, 24 hours of incredibly painful natural childbirth that almost ended in tragedy for us both, and decades of dreaming of a child, here he was: perfect, precious, and beautiful. As I recovered from…

Continue reading: 5 Things I Learned from Leaving the Career of My Dreams to Become a Teacher

I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be completely honest here. It may be difficult to answer. Okay, here’s the question…are you ready? Do you ever run around your room like a chicken with your head cut off? I’m serious here. I know when I have a few minutes of…

Continue reading: One Powerful Way to Save Time in the Classroom

I see Back to School Sales all around, so why are temperatures still soaring and pools still beckoning? In our school district we return to our classrooms in a few short days. Yikes! We teachers face changes so much that we’re change masters. Yet we never experience as much change as at the beginning of…

Continue reading: Back to School Rules!

Way back when I was a student teacher facing my first evaluation, I was a little nervous. But since I was a second career teacher, I felt confident in myself. I knew what I was doing. It all went horribly wrong. One particular sweetheart—Mr. Fidget, newly arrived in my kindergarten room–managed to get his legs…

Continue reading: How to Survive An Evaluation Without Throwing Up