National Boards Mentoring and ResourcesGoing through the National Boards Process alone, and even with others, can be a frustrating and overwhelming experience. I would know since I certified in 2017 and completed all four components in one year. I then became a Candidate Support Provider for my district in order to help other candidates. Since then I have worked with over hundreds of National Boards Candidates, all grade levels and different certificate areas. I am extremely passionate about the process, as I feel that it was the greatest chal...

Literacy...a word that we all know plays a critical role in not just our educational journey but also our daily lives. The ability to read, write, and communicate is paramount and greatly impacts our adult lives, but these valuable skill sets aren't always obtained throughout school; here are some startling statistics: 50% of adults in the U.S. can’t read a book written at an 8th-grade level.46% of American adults cannot understand basic financial documents like balance sheets and income statements.90% of U.S. employers have difficulty fillin...

Reading Standards...the incarnation of the devil. Oh wait, I'll save those words for a different post about the hybrid learning model. I digress; those two words, READING STANDARDS, have been haunting me these last few years since our English Department switched over to standards-based...well, everything. If you look at my gradebook, it's quite easy to see how your student is performing in argumentative, narrative, explanatory, and research writing. You can also clearly see how your student performs in collaborative discussions and presentati...

As promised, I am going to continue to honestly reflect upon our new grading practices in the English Department. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, where the hell have you been? Just kidding...read my other two posts found here and here, and then come on back! I organized (I know shocking) the following into topics such as planning, assessment practice, feedback, etc. Then I further organized each topic (now you're further shocked) into AHAS, GROWING PAINS, and MOVING FORWARD. Here we go: #1- Standards-Based Planning and Assignm...

Reflective Practitioner....If you've been in education long enough, you've heard these two words, but how often do you actually practice reflecting upon your teaching practices? Today I'm going to walk the walk, instead of just talk the talk, and I'm going to be open and honest about making my grade book and grading practice more fair, equitable, and reliable. If you missed my original post on this, you might want to visit my previous post (click here). Once you've read my previous post and you're spitting nails, come back here to continue o...

Pineapple...no, not the delicious fruit that makes the inside of your mouth hurt (no, just me?) or the weird Emoji you use on SnapChat to tell everyone your relationship is "complicated." Pineapple also has a meaning in education when it comes to teacher observations. Have you ever heard of a Pineapple Chart? Two years ago, I came across the Pineapple Chart while browsing for educational pins on Pinterest. After doing further research, I found this amazing post from Cult of Pedagogy on these types of charts (click here).  First let me explain...

 Calling all teachers. Don't be mad at me for this post since we tend to get a little touchy when it comes to our grading system and grade books, but... I want you to take a look at your grade book, and ask yourself this question: Is your grade book fair, equitable, and reliable? At first, we naturally say, "Why of course it is! Stay out of my grade book you pompous, know it all!" But upon careful examination can you really say your grade book is all three of these things? I can't, but I'm changing this!  I was inspired this year after I att...