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Why Do We Lose Our Minds?

Why Do We Lose Our Minds?

Two conversations this week made me question why it is as parents that we sometimes lose our collective minds. One conversation was with the parents of a 9th grader and the other was with the parents of a 6th grader. While on different topics, there was a clear tie that interlinked these two talks.

9th Grade Student’s Academic Progress Concerns

The conversation with the 9th-grade parents was about the academic progress of their child. Their child received perfect grades in the first semester of their high school career. The parents were not excited about this, however. They were upset because when they started to plan out the courses their son would take in the 10th-grade year, their student did not want to take all Advanced or Honors classes. The parents shared that this had already led to three conversations ending in tears. I asked a direct question of the parents to understand their frustration. “Why are you upset by this?” Their answer was that their child would never receive Valedictorian or the best scholarships if they did not take the hardest courses. [Read more…]

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Ten Strategies to Ensure Student Success

Ten Strategies to Ensure Student Success

Our staff met these past few weeks to reflect on the many successes that we have achieved with our students this school year. [Read more…]

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Writing Standards with Fun Activities (Part 4)

Writing Standards with Fun Activities (Part 4)

Each year I am challenged in how I can adequately increase the writing competencies of my students in project-based learning activities. When I partnered with another teacher, we created a checklist of what we had to complete by the end of the school year to meet all writing competencies. These activities included:

  1. Writing teachers must understand the rules for grade level writing standards.
  2. The teachers must consider various activities that will fully engage and inspire diverse learners.
  3. Writing activities must be fun while meeting a wide range of reading and writing abilities within a class. This ensures differentiated instruction that is equitable and successful for all students.
  4. Writing teachers must research and collect resources that will support an engaging writing activity in the classroom.

[Read more…]

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You Raise Your Children to Leave

You Raise Your Children to Leave

The very best parenting advice I have ever received was simply the statement, “You raise them to leave.” As an educator I am intimately aware of the concept of beginning with the end in mind, but it seems that far too often as parents we forget exactly what that end may be. I know that in the midst of trying to parent four children that I often need to take a step back and think about this simple statement before I respond because this is NOT my natural default mechanism when dealing with my own children.

The beauty and power of this statement is that no two people reading this need to have that same end in mind. Getting your children ready to leave may look much different in your mind’s eye than it does in mine. This is where the strength of the concept comes from. This simply forces us to consider what it is that we want for our kids when we are making our parenting decisions.

[Read more…]

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Playful Writing Strategies for Kids (Part 3)

Playful Writing Strategies for Kids (Part 3)

When working with challenged writers, I find that an art project can generate writing recipes for success. During the weeks before the winter holiday break, I created a series of writing assignments to energize challenged writers. [Read more…]

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