June 6, 2022 · blog posts
One of our beloved "class pets!” We’re almost there, we're almost there! As I’ve been thinking about what I’ll take with me from this school year, when I’m at my most positive (which is rare, especially these days to be honest!) I find myself holding onto the goofy moments of community with students. We’ve written about simulations we’ve designed to discuss inequity or how we incorporate representation into our curricula... but today I wanted to just highlight some foolishness we’ve done in the past, which are some of my favorite memories. 1. The Annual Birthday Prank To be perfectly honest, we keep kid birthdays low key. They become difficult to keep up with and there’s always the issue of off school year birthdays or inequities or over the top parental moves. However, we like to model how fun it is to celebrate others together. Our tech director is someone who helped everyone out, is
end of the yearpranksfunmemories
November 9, 2021 · blog posts
We ran a Students of Color affinity group for grades 3-5 at our school and hope to be able to meet again later this year. We used to meet during lunch (pre-COVID) which was so lovely, but since that’s currently not possible with all of our protocols, we are trying to find another time and space. We’ve found that many schools have affinity groups for older students, but want to share support and ideas for starting an affinity group with some of the younger ones as well. Our crew really benefited from it and it was a time we all looked forward to as a breather during the week! What to Prepare A general overview of your proposal/plan to share with administrators so they know and take this endeavor seriously. Everything about this process is easier if you have administrator buy-in. They will be bombarded by at least a few parents as you get going, soon enough. Maps/globe Vocabulary: Race,
affinity groupsStudents of Colorlower schoolelementary schoolrace
October 12, 2021 · blog posts
Gabby’s post, Ten Habits to Help Teachers and Students Stay Positive and Engaged , was published on The Art of Teaching! Please read and share widely as I’m sure we all could use some reminders right now. And let us know your tips as
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October 5, 2021 · blog posts
Image from storydistrict.org You can find a list of podcasts and related resources with amazing classroom potential in this past post about remote learning options , but I mainly listen to podcasts for myself. They make cooking and housework more fun and are a great way to get through a road trip (if my baby allows us to listen to one, that is). There are so many podcasts related to education and teaching, but for the most part I like to listen to ones that are less classroom focused and more of a break. Here are some recommendations to help us get through another unprecedented and unpredictable year in the classroom. Educators Lead: Nina was interviewed and featured on here , it’s a great way to hear from other educators Teaching Hard History from Learning for Justice (previously Teaching Tolerance): this podcast goes through real events of American history, most of which I did not
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May 23, 2019 · blog posts
We were asked what is always on our end of year to do list.. Below are a few pieces we always have on that list. Ironically, for me the end of the year has so many of its own mini lists and rituals. A few things that are always on there for me are: 1. Write thank you notes (this includes personal ones I write, and also putting aside class time and guiding the students to reflect and write their own. These include notes to students, ridiculously reliable, wonderful maintenance staff, an amazing receptionist, a family that has been really kind, a colleague/peer that helped you out, a class of students you used to have that is graduating etc..) 2. Log that all our classroom books have been returned! Have students help out, remind families etc. 3. Set aside class time to solicit student feedback. We wrote blog posts about how and why we do this in 2017 and 2018. End of year feedback from
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