Almost 10 years ago, I reached a point in my career that I believe most teachers arrive to at some point. I had to acknowledge that I wasn’t as good of a teacher as I thought I was. I can recall the moment I decided that the way I was teaching wasn’t helping my students […]

You have the power to create a strong classroom culture by making intentional choices about how you manage your classroom. No matter what subject you teach and what preconceived notions a student has about that subject, YOU can ignite their love for learning. It all starts when they walk through your door. When students walk

Through my personal investigation, I realized that when fifth-graders walk into a classroom, they expect bells and whistles. Remember, at this stage, students have spent five years in school. They may have had teachers who posted every single art project on their walls, played music, and maybe even had classroom pets. By the time they

If you haven’t read my post about redefining school, please read it before diving into this one. In this moment, I want us to ask ourselves how we, as educators, begin planning our classroom actively. Sure, we can check out Pinterest inspiration boards, buy motivational posters, or even start working on the class layout, but,

What does it mean for someone to go to school? Imagine an extraterrestrial landed on Earth and tasked you with explaining our customs to them. When they asked you what the word ”school” meant, how would you describe it? At first thought, it seems like explaining school should be simple. You can just look it

There is an education crisis in America. This crisis has been around long before schools closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re a parent, teacher, school leader, or community member, you may have recognized the problem. We tiptoe around it, argue about it, and do our best to prove that it won’t hold back

Have you ever seen a teacher that students seem to gravitate towards? The teacher whose door is always open and a ray of almost tangible positivity are glowing from it. Maybe it’s the teacher who gives out snacks and high fives or the teacher that’s always ready with a compliment, or even the bouncy teacher

Hello! My name is Michelle. I’m a New York City K-12 teacher who is passionate about sharing my experience with harnessing the power of play in the classroom. I truly believe that adding play-based learning strategies to the traditional academic lesson cycle will transform the experience for children at school. The goal of this blog