Blog - It's Not Rocket Science

A Pep Talk to Survive Teaching in a Pandemic

How to survive a stressful school year Teaching in a pandemic - who could have EVER predicted this would be our lives? This year (2020) is one for the history books - literally. Whether you are reading this as you start the 20-21 school year in these bizarre circumstances, or you are reading this in the future, post-pandemic (please, for the love, tell us there is hope that this will one ... Read More about A Pep Talk to Survive Teaching in a Pandemic

How to Minimize Time Spent Grading and NEVER take Work Home

We have to have a strategy to minimize time spent grading. Whether we like it or not, as high school teachers grades are of the upmost importance, as our students' GPAs will directly impact their futures after graduation. This can be a heavy burden for us to ensure we are being fair and providing plenty of opportunities for students to show us their understanding. But how can we do that without ... Read More about How to Minimize Time Spent Grading and NEVER take Work Home

4 MUST DO Teacher Self-Care Tips

Now MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, teachers need to be conscious about caring for themselves. Teaching is already a stressful takes-everything-out-of -you-mentally-and-emotionally type of career, but now throw in a pandemic to the mix and schools requiring teachers to balance in person, virtual, and/or hybrid teaching models, and it takes it to a whole other level. These are my 4 MUST-DO tips for teacher ... Read More about 4 MUST DO Teacher Self-Care Tips

Building Relationships with Students: Tips for High School Teachers

Building relationships with my students has always been incredibly important to me, and the reason why I am still connected to a lot of my old students, despite being out of the classroom for 2 years now! Likewise, teaching is about so much more than the content we share with our students. My most memorable teachers are the ones that I felt really knew me and cared about me. If we want our ... Read More about Building Relationships with Students: Tips for High School Teachers

My Favorite Classroom Management Strategy

The first school I taught in had semester block scheduling - the kind where you taught 4 classes a day, every day for 90 minutes, but got new students in January. My first semester went surprisingly smooth. Why had I been so worried about classroom management? I didn't need to read all those books that I read. Having my own class was a breeze compared to trying to commandeer my mentor ... Read More about My Favorite Classroom Management Strategy