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What does it Mean to Seek The Next Level? by Laura McDonell
Listen How Observation and Choosing the Struggle Allow us to Become Fearless Identifying the Next Level What does the next level look like? Our family loves to play Pacman. My sons and my husband are very good at playing the game, so their next levels look quite different from mine....
We Might Want It To Be Over… by Laura McDonell
Listen But...2020 Is still Worth Processing What did you love? And what do you want to be different next year? No Doubt A Challenging Year The past year has been a challenging one for many reasons. One of the tough things is that it was unpredictable. This year was unlike...
The Best Choices are Right in Front of You by Laura McDonell
Listen Rearrange the ¨Furniture¨ and Discover a New Perspective Growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to rearrange my bedroom. I loved the opportunity to have my bed facing a new direction, a chance to slide the dresser into a new location and enjoy seeing things from...
Student Reflections on Virtual and Hybrid Learning
Listen There is no question that this has been a very challenging year for teachers and administrators (OK, understatement doesn’t even begin to describe that statement). But, our students are facing these challenges without the benefit of maturity, life experience, or a college degree! Let’s not forget that...
Reformation: Embracing the Outdoors
Listen In this article, we’ll take a step away from our eleven leaders and reach a bit further out, because there are many schools around the world who have used the opportunity the pandemic has provided to be outdoors more. Pre-pandemic, many schools and districts in the U.S. added more...
Elementary Focus: Dolls for SEL and Social Studies
Listen There are few adults who spend any time with kids who haven’t heard of the “Toy Story” franchise. In one of the movies, the toys gather around a new playmate, Forky, created by the child who is the center of their world.The child in the movie makes this “doll”...
Careers That Fit Well with Education Experience
Listen There are quite a few educators currently out of employment due to the financial repercussions of the pandemic. There are others who are okay for this year but may be facing a similar fate in the near future. There are many others who have lost wages, or for whom...
Teaching Culturally Responsive Literature: Part 1, LGBTQ+
Listen It is not appropriate as educators to tell students what to believe, but it is our duty to foster an environment that welcomes every individual and provides a safe space where they can learn. Schools are to be a microcosm of society at large in which students can practice...
Preventing PTSD Among Educators
Listen As the stories of teachers pour in from around the country of their return to their classrooms to clean them out, end the year, and get ready for summer, one thing is resoundingly clear: teachers have suffered some deep emotional trauma this year. Although trauma is widely accepted as...
Battling Anxiety
Listen Anxiety in and of itself is common, but when that anxiety starts to interfere with your daily life, cause you to avoid certain activities, and keep you from doing the things that are important to you, it’s time to seek help. Among the symptoms or signs of anxiety are...
Depression and Teaching
Listen Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses people face. It can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience or a lifelong struggle. For teachers, this time in our history is particularly ripe for depression because of the instability of our jobs, the necessity of social distancing (which makes connecting to...
Panic Attacks 101
Listen We, teachers, have always been a fairly over-stressed, anxiety-ridden bunch. We’ve got a lot at stake, after all. Our jobs are more than jobs. We’re caring for and educating our own future leaders and fellow adults. With the pandemic, social isolation, insecurities about when and how we will return...
The Next Pandemic - Mental Illness
Listen The pandemic of COVID-19 leaves behind more than physical health changes for the general population in its wake. Many doctors, psychiatrists, and health advisers (including the CDC and WHO) are telling the medical community and the public to brace themselves for the next big pandemic - mental illness. Many...
Building an International Community of Educators
Listen While teachers are usually great about sharing lesson plans, borrowing decorating ideas, and team planning, many schools attempt to recreate systems in-house rather than seeing what other districts have done in the region, throughout the country or even across the world. With the world at our fingertips and education...
The Necessity of Time Off for Educators -For Building Administrators
Listen Countless educators made the sudden switch from face-to-face learning to crisis remote learning this year and have been working 10 to 12 hour days just to stay on top of things for months. Now that the school year has come to a close, many of those educators are exhausted,...
What Do Schools Need to Do to Prepare for the Fall? Part 2
Listen In our previous article in this series, we addressed the fact that schools need to prepare plans A, B, & C as well as a hybrid of the three and the fact that teachers will need continued support. Consider Accessibility for Both Students and Teachers The last three months...
What Do Schools Need to Do to Prepare for the Fall? Part 1
Listen We only have three months to get ready for whatever school is going to look like in the fall. With so many unknowns, we are all having to plan for several different scenarios. One of the big lessons learned from the experiences this spring is that we have to...
Being OK with Being Cautious
Listen It goes without saying that everyone is ready for things to go back to normal, but many scientists are predicting that normal may be as much as a few years away. Some cultural norms are likely to be changing or disappearing for good. The economic repercussions will stretch out...
Preparing Students to Re-Enter Society
Listen Recently, one of our writers was sharing a personal experience they’d had right after college. The writer spent the summer in a third-world country teaching reading, and upon returning to the United States, had a severely overwhelming few weeks getting used to being back. For example, grocery shopping was...
Teachers’ Concerns About Returning to School
Listen In a previous post we explored how other countries are coping with reopening schools, but teachers around the globe have so many practical questions and concerns regarding the implications of reopening when there are still so many unknowns about this virus. Many teachers feel left out as the decisions...
The Emotional Toll of Social Distancing
Listen Let us start by saying that we acknowledge that the price we are paying for social distancing is, in our opinion, worth it. Lives are the most important and irreplaceable commodity. That’s not the issue we are dealing with in this article. With that being said, we must acknowledge...
How Other Countries Are Coping with Restarting School
Listen Students and educators alike have been terribly disappointed by the fact that school won’t be resuming face-to-face classes for this school year. Although there are many disadvantages to those involved in remote learning, there are some things that can be taken into consideration as advantages. One great advantage is...
Creating Emotional Closure During Quarantine
Listen In the U.S., most states have already called it: school will be only online and distance ed for the rest of this school year. For many students, this is difficult.Actually, if we’re being accurate and transparent, it’s traumatizing. It is necessary, it is important, but there is a lot...
Resource Roundup: Engaging Activities for Online Ed
Listen Things are stressful right now. That’s probably an understatement, but it’s a statement in the right direction. It’s also really difficult to get some of our students to show up for online education and subsequently keep them engaged. One of the most requested discussion focuses on many of the...
Talking to Young Children About Scary Things
Listen Many of us are frightened or overwhelmed right now, and children know that. It isn’t a matter of “if” they notice, but a matter of “when”. Teachers and parents alike have struggled with talking to their children about big, overwhelming topics since the dawn of time. It’s not new,...
Remote Learning Idea #3: Do-able Poetry Intro or Review
Listen How can 6 little letters elicit such fear, dread, anxiety, and memories of failure and defeat? And, that’s just for the teachers! Many of us literature nerds love poetry. You probably remember how excited you were building your poetry packet your first year teaching ELAR. The other teachers on...
5 Pro Tips for Working From Home
Listen Many teachers have suddenly found themselves teaching from the most unexpected place: home. Although you may have lots of new colleagues (your family members and pets), access to a refrigerator and pantry, and plenty of comfortable places to work from, the challenge to adjust to working in that environment...
Resource Roundup: ELAR and Administration Books for the Pandemic
Listen As more and more schools are extending breaks and/or turning to online instruction in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more teachers and administrators find themselves going a little stir crazy. It’s been impressive and truly beautiful to see various educational resources, publishers, instructional platforms, internet providers, school...
Resource Roundup: PD for the Pandemic
Listen With states and districts closing schools suddenly due to the pandemic, some teachers are finding themselves with two weeks of “early summer”, extended spring break, or even voluntary time at home otherwise avoiding illness. If you’re faced with seemingly endless hours with little to do (after you’re tired of...
Student-Mentoring Programs
Listen Teachers have always had to find creative ways to help students without much family support: a single parent who has to work multiple jobs, a family distracted by crisis, or children removed from an abusive situation. These issues date as far back as any form of civilization, much less...
Tips for Combating Student Anxiety
Listen Childhood has always been filled with stressors, but recent studies show that childhood anxiety is on the rise. The Child Mind Institute says that 30% of children now experience significant anxiety, although many of these children never receive treatment. The CDC says that the number of diagnoses increased from...
Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD)
Listen What Is ODD? Oppositional Defiance Disorder is a behavioral disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include persistent angry or irritable moods, extreme defiance for authority figures, frequent need to argue, and vindictiveness. Students with ODD most often deal with other disorders simultaneously and in addition to ODD. Frequent...
Tips for Coping with Personal Mental Illness
Listen According to NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), on average, 1 in 5 Americans in the general population experience mental illness at some point in their adult life. 1 in 25 experience severe or chronic mental illnesses. It comes as no surprise that teachers are not an exception...
How Do I Deal with Conflict at School?
Listen Conflict at the workplace is stressful in any traditional business, but teaching is such a personal career, and having a team that cannot coalesce can be exhausting and demoralizing. Team planning meetings, lunchtime, PLC’s, and hallway bantering may be too much to handle when palpable tension is present. While...
Police Officers on School Campuses
Listen While some find it unsettling or unfortunate to walk onto a school campus and see armed police officers walking around, a better understanding of the roles of School Resource Officers (or SROs) reveals that they are more than just stern defenders looking for bad guys. SROs devote much...
Self-Care for Worn Out Educators
Listen Have you ever noticed that the only movies that are made about us are either movies where the teacher is a terrible human who takes complete advantage of the “easy paycheck” (which we all know is not realistic) or those who have no personal boundaries and are terrible humans...
Working With Students in Foster Care
Listen Read Students in the foster care system in the United States may be one of the most misunderstood groups we educate. Educators new to working with fosters may many misconceptions about who foster kids are. Although there are regulations in some states that prohibit you from knowing which of...
Helping Parents Navigate the World of Education
Listen Read Finish this statement: “The kids aren’t the problem. It’s the ______.” Did you say either adults or parents? Then you are not alone! Many teachers say the same. After years in the public school setting, one of our writers transitioned from teaching to being a stay-at-home parent, though,...
Teacher Side Gig Profile - Tutoring
Listen Read One of the best seasonal and side gigs for educators is tutoring. Tutors are needed in every subject and at every level. During times when school is not in session, parents especially look for tutors for their children to keep from losing any ground they’ve gained, and occasionally...
7 Tips For Helping Families in Crisis
Listen Read Everyone experiences a crisis at some point. No one is immune. Whether the person involved in crisis is a student, a staff member, or an administrator, the community is affected and may need to respond swiftly to provide meaningful intervention. Here are a few crises that may affect...
The Aftermath Of Growing Up As A Gifted Child
Listen Read Ever heard someone say, “Oh, yeah, I used to be gifted, but I’m not anymore”? Gifted and talented is not a social club that you try out for or even a class for kids who like to study and make good grades. When done correctly, the goal of...
4 Homeschooling Myths
Listen Read When the word “homeschooling” comes to mind, what do you think? If you’re like most public (or even private) school educators in the United States, chances are your ideas are very different from the current reality. Or, perhaps we should say, homeschooling has evolved into a lot of...
The Introvert's Survival Guide for Working in Education
Listen Read Education is a tough field for introverts, and not necessarily for the reasons people might assume. The “public speaking” aspect, for example, is not that big of a deal for many people in a classroom setting. In fact, public speaking in general may be easier for introverts because...
10 Ways to Boost Morale for Teachers and School Staff
Listen As the school year begins, so does the stress and expectations put upon teachers. We go from pretty much not having a care in the world during the summer to deadlines, paperwork, planning, assessments…you name it, we have to do it. All these duties can become overwhelming quickly and...
Mindfulness in the Classroom
Listen The demands put upon students these days, from kindergarten through high school, have become overwhelming. Kindergartners, 5 and 6 year olds, are expected to read and write by the end of the school year. Upper elementary age students need to be able to use a computer and take multiple,...
Another School Year Starts - Advice to a New Teacher
Listen New teachers face unique challenges from connecting with students to developing a work-life balance in a career that seems to follow them home every day. But they also have one of the most important and rewarding jobs on the planet, so those new-teacher-jitters are well worth it in the...
Should We Have Corporal Punishment in the Classroom?
Listen Corporal punishment is defined online by Merriam Webster as being “punishment inflicted on a person’s body”. They further add to the definition by pointing out that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “limits the use of corporal punishment on convicted offenders and prisoners”. However, they also point out...
TFD Talks Education #2 - Being Kind and Inclusive with Craig McCalla
Listen Watch We talk with Craig McCalla of Anchor Elementary about being a kind person, being inclusive, and learning the names of your students.
Activity Overload - Letting Kids Be Kids
Society today is fast-paced and brutal. We wake up early, throw on our clothes while the coffee brews, grab our stuff, and rush out the door, oftentimes all before the sun has even risen into the sky. Long gone are the days where you could sit quietly at the breakfast...
In an On Demand World is Patience Still Important?
It is human nature to be impatient. After all, we are self-centered creatures that are naturally impatient, unless we are taught differently. In today’s fast-paced, instant gratification society, patience might seem like a thing of the past. The truth, however, is that it is more valuable now than ever before, The...