When I started teaching, our evaluations had three categories: Excellent, Satisfactory, and Needs Improvement. Then, there was a list of characteristics and behaviors with check boxes next to it. I’m pretty sure I never received a mark less than Excellent. And that is what I wanted. That yearly evaluation was something to just get over
I used to play school with my big sister. Of course, being the younger sister, I was always the student. She showed me what it meant to be a learner. For some reason, my younger brother never wanted to play school with me when I got older. 🙂 Luckily, my younger neighbors allowed me
If you have read any of my previous posts you know I often find professional/personal development nuggets in my everyday life. The same thing happened as I was watching my nine-year-old son play in his first game of the baseball tournament Monday night. Last year, in the younger league, his team won the tourney and were
I’m a passionate person, in general. I use the word “love” a lot (read a post about that here). I fully enjoy good movies, books, wine, and chocolate (the list could go on and on, but you would get bored). Ten years ago, however, if you would have told me that I’d be super passionate
My daughter is thirteen. She’s is tall, blonde, and beautiful. More importantly, she is very intelligent, hilarious, kind, thoughtful, and so much fun to be around. She has made the transition to teenager pretty smoothly. She struggles, however, as most of us do with self-confidence. Yesterday at church, an older lady told me how gorgeous
If you are under the age of 40, I know what you are thinking about my title…that’s only something that old people say. If you are around 40 or older, though, I bet you are nodding and agreeing with me. I never thought I’d be one of those people who was bothered by the number,
(Not loving that title, but I’m going with it for the time being.) Family – I have an amazing family. They support, encourage, love, and tease me – all important things. My children’s smiles brighten my day like nothing else. Friends – I’m so grateful for friends who laugh with me, and hold me up when I
So this happened on the airplane of a recent work trip. It gets better. The fight attendant was squatted down right beside my feet getting drinks when I had my salad-lid malfunction. I was embarrassed and very apologetic. She said, “Oh, don’t worry about it. The cabin crew will take care of it.” I thanked
The Students I Remember – My “Lost Boys”
I’ve often heard people remark to good teachers when they hear something kind, fun, or engaging they’ve done for students, “And those kids will remember that the rest of their lives.” I completely agree with that. I remember many moments with many teachers from my school days. But, as a teacher, I remember some students
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