I used to give the old “Word”-formatted paper-based tests and quizzes. Believe it or not, when Google Forms was released and my students had 1:1 Chromebooks, I never even considered giving students a unit test as a Google Form on the computer. I worried about…
Maybe it’s in my head because I myself am such a visual learner, but I feel like my students take activities and assignments more seriously when they are aesthetically-pleasing! I think the engagement factor for an activity can be instantaneous with a thoughtfully designed worksheet!…
Even when you end one school year with exhaustion, inevitably the beginning of a new school year brings rejuvenation. You take out your beloved boxes of classroom decor and materials. You pop them open and feel the welling of excitement rise up once again!…
I started finding solace in podcasts on my hour-long commute to school across the state of New Jersey. My husband and I lived at the beach (#surfwifelife) and I would leave the house at 6 a.m. to arrive at school at least 15 minutes before…
Teaching middle school is a wild ride! You’ve got the impulsiveness, the lack of hygiene, and the dirty minds to deal with each day. You’ve got the thirteen year olds who think they’re always right, the fringe students whose personal identities are in constant flux,…
The morning of 9/11 was my 16th birthday. I was a Junior in high school and I was sitting in Mrs. Geller-Clark’s class when we heard the news. Mrs. G-C turned on a New York radio station and we listened silently, hearts pounding, to the…
Mr. Boehmler was an absolute legend in my high school. He was in his 60s with a cute old man face and an unrivaled sense of humor. He made my sophomore year in chemistry the absolute most fun science class that I took in high…
From the time I was a second-grader I wanted to be a teacher. One day, my dad brought home a big white board on an easel with colored dry-erase markers that he salvaged from his work when they moved offices. My parents trash-picked some shelves…
