Category Archives: Teaching Reflections

Apparently I have Some Reading to Do

I have been flirting with the idea of tackling a doctoral program. I keep talking about it…I keep looking at programs…not really sure when flirtation becomes an obsession. I still don’t know if I want to actually DO this. A doctorate is a mountain of work. I’m 61. I already have a master’s degree. IContinue reading “Apparently I have Some Reading to Do”

I’m Wondering What We Have in Common?

I have been thinking about television. Which seems like an odd place to start when I am actually thinking about my students…but here we are. When I was growing up, there just weren’t that many choices. We watched I Dream of Jeannie and The Brady Bunch and later M*A*S*H and The Love Boat. Obviously notContinue reading “I’m Wondering What We Have in Common?”

Having Been Gutted…I’m a Little Tender

I hurt a student this week and I didn’t know until her mom reached out with the kindest, most heartfelt punch in the gut I can imagine. I hurt her daughter and she wanted me to know it. I had put random and anonymous student responses from a digital worksheet on the screen. There wereContinue reading “Having Been Gutted…I’m a Little Tender”

Efficient Toward What?

I have been thinking about efficiency in public education … and now I am wondering if I am trying to be efficient myself, or if I expect efficiency from my students, my admin, or the larger public education system … or all of the above. And efficient toward what? I started thinking I might writeContinue reading “Efficient Toward What?”

I’m Wondering What Leaves the Classroom?

I’ve been thinking about getting a doctorate.  There. I said it.  I don’t know that I will. I’m 61 years old, happily teaching high school, and have no particular desire to leave my classroom and become something else. Which does raise the perfectly reasonable question of why on earth I would contemplate doing this toContinue reading “I’m Wondering What Leaves the Classroom?”

The Practice of Coming Back

It is early in the school year, and I have been thinking about what exactly I am trying to accomplish during these first few weeks. Honestly, we aren’t learning all that much ASL yet. We are learning some, obviously. Names. Classroom language. Fingerspelling. The beginnings of communication. But there is something else happening before theyContinue reading “The Practice of Coming Back”

What Does It Actually Mean to Care About a Student? (…and why do I care, anyway?)

I care about my students. That’s an easy thing for a teacher to say…and I hear teachers say it all the time. In fact, I say it all the time. But what does that actually mean? What does it mean to care about someone else’s child …or 30 of them? I don’t think caring aboutContinue reading “What Does It Actually Mean to Care About a Student? (…and why do I care, anyway?)”