One Teacher's Adventures

Every once in a while, I plan a lesson that I am sure will take the entire class, then I look at the clock and somehow there are still 15 minutes left. It's not really enough time to start something new, but it's definitely enough time for a room full of middle schoolers to find their own entertainment. When I was a newer teacher, this used to stress me out. I felt like I needed to have every minute of every class planned, and if we finished early, I had somehow planned the lesson badly. I would scramble to come up with something else for students to do, or I'd stretch out the lesson I had planned just to fill the time. After 16 years of teaching, I've accepted that sometimes lessons just don't take as long as you think they will. Sometimes students understand something much faster than I expected. Sometimes an activity that took another class 25 minutes takes this class 15. Sometimes I planned for a great discussion and my students have absolutely nothing to say. ...

I've just started my 16th year of teaching, which doesn't really seem possible. There are plenty of things I do now that I didn't do when I first started teaching, but there are also quite a few things I used to do that I've stopped doing along the way. Some of them took too much time. Some didn't work the way I thought they would. Others I stopped doing because, somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't actually agree with the reason I was doing them in the first place. Here are a few things that have disappeared from my classroom over the years. 1. Rewarding Students for Meeting Basic Expectations Early in my teaching career, I had a ticket system. Students could earn tickets for doing things like coming to class with all of their materials or having a book ready for silent reading without needing to be reminded. They would write their name on the ticket and put it into a jar. At the end of the week, I would draw a few tickets and those students would get a...

Feeling Burned Out as a Teacher? You’re Not Alone Teacher burnout is real, and right now it’s affecting more educators than ever. Between increasing demands, student needs, and the emotional weight of the job, many teachers are asking: “Is this sustainable?” This post isn’t about convincing you to stay in teaching if it no longer works for you. But if you’re still in the classroom and looking for ways to make the day-to-day feel more manageable, and even enjoyable again, these small, practical shifts can help reduce teacher burnout and bring back a sense of positivity. 1. Find Your People (and Choose Them Carefully) Having even one or two trusted colleagues can make a huge difference. But here’s the key: not all venting spaces are helpful. There’s a difference between: “That was a rough day. Let’s figure out what might help.” and “Everything is terrible and nothing will ever change.” Try to find colleagues who: Listen without judgment Are ...

  Knowing Your Learning Targets (Even If You Don’t Post Them Everywhere) If you’ve spent any time on teacher Instagram or TikTok, you’ve probably seen the jokes: “Have you tried posting your learning targets?” “Just write the objective on the board—problem solved!” And honestly, I laugh at those posts too. Because no, writing “I can add fractions” on the board is not some magic fix for engagement, behaviour, or learning. But here’s the thing I’ve come to realize over time: Even if students don’t always read them, it still matters that I know them. The Shift That Made a Difference Earlier in my teaching career, I would plan lessons and assessments more holistically: “This is a fractions test” “This is a project on identity” “This is a unit on early civilizations” But over time, and especially through working with student teachers and refining my assessment practices, I started asking myself a different question: What specific skills am I actually assessing here? That ...