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I'm preaching to the choir... but teaching is hard. It's mentally and physically exhausting. Teachers give so much of themselves, and no matter how many times someone says to brush something off we can't help but take it personally because teaching is our lives. Negative comments on our teaching feel like attacks on who we are. That's why when we first closed for distance learning and then got ... Read More about The Guilt of Relief

Tech. I love tech. My classroom life is technology. We use it in so many parts of our day. Now, I'm extra thankful that we used technology so often in our classroom because it has made this transition to distance learning so much easier. Sure, there were still hurdles and troubleshooting support, but the kids already had so many tools to help them continue to be successful. With all that being ... Read More about Top 10 Tech Tools for Distance Learning

Distance learning has been quite an experience for teachers (and parents) out there! While everyone's plan looks different, I wanted to share how I'm managing eLearning and what resources I'm using. Instructional Remote Learning (IRL) Plan Here's a look at the plan my (amazing) partner teacher and I came up with. We work well together-- we like routine and predictability in our planning. Every ... Read More about My Distance Learning Schedule

Raise your hand if that tweet hits a little too close to home. It's right before the holidays, and you teach in one of those school districts that does not have a fall break during the full week of Thanksgiving. I'm sorry. Short weeks, especially ones before breaks, are a struggle. Our kids are frequently acting different than normal (or maybe that's the normal in your class, and again, I ... Read More about Teaching Before Thanksgiving

When I theme up a day, it's because I need to amp up the engagement on a topic that isn't the most exciting to teach or learn... and for me, that's nonfiction text features. Teaching my students about a diagram, index, caption, and table of contents? No thanks. That's why I created a way to make it fun! Prior to this day of fun, my students completed a variety of activities from Amy Lemons and ... Read More about Shark Day