I made the huge mistake of going to school yesterday with a slightly sore throat. Talking ALL DAY LONG (at project-to-a-room-full-of-kids volume) did not help. By the end of the day, my voice was pathetic. By this morning, it was gone entirely. Teaching with no voice was an experience, to say the least. I did…

I finally took my first day off on Friday. I started feeling sick early on Thursday morning, and was barely functional in my classroom by the end of the day. Even the principal encouraged me to stay home, so I figured it was forgivable. Plus, my kids were at the point where they needed to…

I’ve started to think of classroom management as something like riding a bucking bronco. (If I were a great teacher it would be more like riding a well-trained pony, but clearly we are NOT there yet.) Sometimes I just have to brace myself, walk into the classroom, and just hold on tight through all the…

During my interview, during the first week of my employment, and sporadically throughout the year, I’ve heard stories of previous pranks at my school. The teachers and administrators have gone through some really elaborate planning to keep themselves entertained. It never involves students, but it’s some pretty intricate pranks between staff that have to stay…

Standardized test scores are back, and again I have mixed feelings. District-wide, we did really well again. My kids are again 3rd in the district, but this time they’re only about 0.1 points away from 2nd (out of 13 schools), so at least I’m relieved that we didn’t bomb the test worse than everyone else.…

“TEACHERRRRRRRR!! TEACHER!!!!!!” “One minute please, I’m helping another student.” … “TEACHERRRRRR!! TEACHERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! TEACHER!” “One moment, please.” … “TEACHER! TEACHERRRRRR I NEED YOUR HELP TEACHERRRRRR!” “Okay, okay, enough, I’m ready. What do you need help with?” “Teacher, why are the lions called kings of the jungle? Hasn’t anyone noticed that lions don’t even live in the…