This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. One of the biggest difficulties that many teachers face is grasping the reality that treating students equally is often not even remotely fair. In fact, fairness in most circumstances necessitates inequality. One hallmark of a great teacher is that … Read more
In what has turned out to be some of the best comment-produicing material on this blog, I wrote about Asperger’s Syndrome early this month. Amidst the comments, G. Broaddus dropped this little gem: Fairness in the classroom is not always about giving equal tasks; it is sometimes about giving students an equal chance to succeed, … Read more
Lisa writes: I googled “bitter about teaching” and came up with your blog. I was recently let go from a school I busted my a$$ in for a whole year (my first year) – constant criticism, cattiness, and pointing out and embellishing the negative things I had done while minimizing the positive (all the while … Read more
As we begin the summer vacation, I am looking back on what went really well this year, what didn’t work so well, and what needs to change for next year. Below are some of the positives about this year: Remaining calm – Despite circumstances this year, with the other band director having a stroke and … Read more
Idea stolen from Chris Thomas Have you ever: Changed a personal habit? What was it and how did you accomplish it? Lost more than 30 pounds? How did you do it and how did it make you feel? Paid off over $10,000 in debt? What steps did you take and how did the process affect … Read more
I will begin setting up and writing in a Music Education blog soon. The idea was to include Music Education content on this blog, but I think that might alienate a handful of the readers and that is the last thing I want to do. So when it gets up and running, I will link … Read more
I’m taking a break today from my Stress Reduction series and getting back to some real teaching issues. That’s why we’re here anyway, right? So August and September have come and gone with great behavior. Now the students are beginning to do a lot more testing of the limits. It’s been a while since I … Read more
For another look at quitting teaching, see my article 9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick). One of the most popular search queries that has sent people to my blog lately has been “why do teachers quit?” Doing a quick search of my site tells me that I have a number of … Read more