I have been blessed to find The Healing Garden, a non-profit center for cancer patients in Central Massachusetts. Of course, in our COVID world, distance matters less than it used to, as all offerings are available virtually at this time, but various staff members at the Healing Garden have supported me in this crazy reality… Continue reading Being Mortal
The next generation of ASSISTments
In 2019, I spent summer vacation plowing through the Eureka math curriculum, grades 6-8, making videos of every problem, followed by returning to the start and creating text versions of the hints I had first recorded. As I wrote at the time, it was amazing professional development, as I had to get inside every single… Continue reading The next generation of ASSISTments
Exoskeleton for my 6th graders
Exoskeleton: a rigid external covering for the body in some invertebrate animals, especially arthropods, providing both support and protection We are a few weeks into the school year, which means that we’ve reached a point where some of my students have settled into a good rhythm and are doing well...and some of my students have… Continue reading Exoskeleton for my 6th graders
Jamboard Start Reflection
As with so many of my posts from the past year, the inspiration and content of this post comes from my colleague and thought partner, Jack Czajkowski, 8th grade science teacher at GCVS. He reached out in our chat to ask if I had "protocols" I use with my students when I do Jamboards, since… Continue reading Jamboard Start Reflection
Starting Jamboards Again
As we plan for our third full week of instruction, I've started implementing two Do Now's a week, Tuesday and Thursday at the start of math class. Heading into week three, I'm ready to begin Jamboards...finally! I started by going back through lots of the past Jamboards, trying to think about which style and which… Continue reading Starting Jamboards Again
New beginnings
Tuesday morning marked my second "first morning" at GCVS, the virtual school I began to teach at last year. Last year at this time, we were not preparing to have school start the next day. On the contrary, the commissioner of education had granted all the schools 10 additional days to get prepared for what… Continue reading New beginnings
Happy New Year, August 2021
When I sat down to write this blog post, I thought to myself, "I should go check my other Happy New (School) Year blog posts"....imagine my surprise when I couldn't find any! I was pretty sure that I've written posts about coming back around at the start of a new year, but maybe I've written… Continue reading Happy New Year, August 2021
Inspirations, III
Things I'm reading, listening to, finding interesting, finding challenging... Research Study: Abstract of study Experience of Otherworldly Phenomena (UMass); the complete paper Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faithsPodcast: Rough Translation--a recent and intriguing findPodcast: CodeSwitch--still listening....still inspiredArticle: "High Quality IEP Goals" by Christine Penington--I particularly like her question "which skills… Continue reading Inspirations, III
a gift freely given, again
I am grateful, again, to my co-teacher, Donald Cook, for giving me the opportunity to spend two weeks with his elementary kids in summer school this year. In the time that I was able to be with DJ, and especially with the fourth and fifth graders, I watched the students grow, even in the space… Continue reading a gift freely given, again
A Lesson in Empathy
When I first began teaching at Parker Charter (Devens, MA), I encountered a phenomenon that was new to me: parents would register their student at the school, but not tell us that the student had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). We'd spend a few months with the kids, becoming increasingly concerned about performance and achievement,… Continue reading A Lesson in Empathy
Universal Design for Learning 