Dear Second-Year Teacher, Welcome back for another year in the classroom! It’s good to see that you stuck around, that you were brave enough to try it again. It would be a shame to let all the learning you did last year be wasted. The second year is …Read More

When my son turned one, his throttle got stuck on full speed ahead. He moved constantly, took off running on the sidewalk and never looked back, and lunged headlong down playground slides. Wheeee! He loved touching things, the sloppier the better. He made soup on the dining room …Read More

  One of my first-grade art projects involved sprinkling dry tempera paint on wet paper. The children enjoyed the project, but the result was a horrible mess, a frustrated teacher, and likely an annoyed janitor! I declared I would never do that art project again. I was a …Read More

Today was our first day of kindergarten. In a normal school year, we hold a two-week kindergarten in April. This year in April, the twelve children who were eagerly counting days until they could go to school were sadly disappointed. We made tentative plans to hold kindergarten sometime …Read More

The school board asked if you would be their first-grade teacher, and you said “yes”.  Congratulations!  An exciting journey lies before you.  Perhaps you always wanted to teach and now you finally have the opportunity.  Or maybe you never really considered the possibility, but when they asked, you …Read More

Recess.  Do you rejoice?  Moan?  Feel uncertain?  Yes, I have been there too.  Recess is designed to give students a break from study, and a chance to exercise.  Our little people’s minds are working quite hard, and they deserve a break from the intensity of sitting still.  If …Read More