How to Increase Your Happiness and Improve Your Effectiveness A teacher friend recently came to me upset after receiving her evaluation. Usually rated “highly effective,” she’d received a rating of “effective” this time. “I guess I need to go back to spending weeknights and weekends in my classroom,” she sighed. “I let myself slip this … Read More
Seeing Visible Change Inside and Outside the Classroom So … we know that gratitude is an important practice for both students and teachers. And that there are a lot of activities that can be incorporated in the classroom to implement this practice. But without results, then what’s the point? Luckily, implementing gratitude activities in the classroom … Read More
Incorporating Gratitude Activities in the Classroom My first blog post about “gratitude in the classroom” has produced a lot of feedback! I’ve heard from so many of you—you’re sharing ideas, asking questions, and totally getting why gratitude is such an important practice in the classroom. I’m loving what I’m seeing! In that first post, I … Read More
A Powerful Practice with Real Results I often talk about the “heart work” of education. That part of the job where we’re not just creating an atmosphere of learning—we’re building relationships with our students that will last long after they leave the classroom. To me, that’s what it’s all about really. Relationships trump content because … Read More
How to Find Relief Inside and Outside the Classroom Reports suggest that 90% of elementary teachers experience high levels of stress. And the news is much the same for educators at other levels. For the sake of teachers’ health and well-being (and the sake of the students they teach), it is imperative that stress-relieving techniques … Read More
Why Rescue Remedy Should Be in Your Teacher Toolkit Teaching is a rewarding profession—but it’s also one that can cause immeasurable stress. I’ve heard it from educators time and again. We’re overwhelmed, stressed, exhausted, and irritable. I was recently at the doctor’s office, and we were talking about teacher stress. He said, “The number one … Read More
Why the Choices Teachers Make Matter As most of you know, I’m an avid runner—and an avid reader. So, one of my favorite recent discoveries is the Audible app. It allows me to download books and listen to them while I run. Of course, I’m a teacher and love to highlight, mark up text, and … Read More
How to Grow Your Students’ Hearts Along With Their Brains “We need to care less about whether our children are academically gifted and more about whether they sit with the lonely kid in the cafeteria.” I’ve seen this quote making the rounds on social media a lot lately. And as both a mother and a … Read More
Why Running a School Like a Business Doesn’t Work In the 80’s, Jamie Vollmer, a businessman and attorney, became famous when People magazine named his company’s blueberry ice cream the “Best Ice Cream in America.” He wasn’t just a successful businessman, he was also an education advocate. Mr. Vollmer contended that schools were stuck in … Read More
How to Find Your Happiness Balance Inside and Outside the Classroom I often receive messages from my readers thanking me for posting about the important issues that so many educators face. I’ve been where they are; I’ve lived through a lot of the same things they have. And I love that we can connect, share … Read More