The elephant in the room. When everyone knows it's there, but no one wants to acknowledge it. How does this help or hurt someone who has just experienced a loss? The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of relationship.
Read MoreWith the way we were rostered students, I saw a particular student (6th, 7th or 8th grade - it didn't matter) once on Monday or Tuesday and then a second time that week on either Thursday or Friday. They weren't necessarily in the same group of students either.
Read MoreOne year ago, my school and I embarked on this adventure called PLUS. I don't know why we capitalize it when we write it out. It's not an acronym. It doesn't spell out anything. But it does represent the massive shift our entire building made in one year of a five-year ramp up.
Read MoreDealing with grief was like building physical stamina: the more you exercise, the fast your heart rate recovers after it is elevated. And sometimes, during especially vigorous physical activity, you discover strength you didn't know you had.
Read MoreI am not friends with books. They are more like that annoying cousin you see a few times throughout the year, and when they're there, you feel obligated to spend time with them until they're gone.
That's my relationship with books.
Read MoreThere have been times I've felt that it's my job and responsibility to educate and teach every student the difference between right and wrong.
There have been times where a student makes a mistake and I take the opportunity to explain why what they did was wrong.
And there have been times where I fail to notice that sometimes a mistake is simply a mistake and that students may actually have already learned their lesson before I intervene.
I need to remember that I don't always have to be the teacher.