TL;DR: The past few years have left me exhausted and lost, seeking other work. But I found my fuel—the kids. Keep looking for your fuel, and keep your fire burning. I am nearing retirement. Six years away. It seems like forever away after the past few years. A past few years that included the most challenging years of my nearly … Read More
Engagement and Equitability with Easy-to-Use Canvas Quizzes (VIDEO)
TL;DR: Canvas has an auto-grading feature to use for quizzes. These quizzes can be used at the end of lectures and encourage students to take good notes. If you offer enough quizzes, this can improve equity by allowing students to fail or miss quizzes and still be successful in class. The quiz auto-grading feature of Canvas can be used to … Read More
How Mindfulness Can Make You A Better School Administrator
TL;DR: Being an administrator is hard. Mindfulness takes time but provides significant benefits. A school leader’s day may begin with a 5:30 am alarm. Bus duty and car rider duty are usually in full swing by 7:30 am, earlier in some schools. Before the first bell rings, a principal may have an email from the central office, a phone call … Read More
Gratitude Journaling 2.0
TL;DR: Training your mind to find gratitude can be challenging. It is especially valuable to seek out those grateful moments during difficult times. Using the app Happyfeed can help set you up for gratitude success. Sometimes I think it is ironic that I wrote a book. I say that for the reason that I loathed writing as a young boy. … Read More
Edu Speak 101
TL;DR: Substitute teachers selected that job for all different reasons. Sometimes educational language is hard to understand when you first enter a classroom and read the sub plans. Try to complete sub plans that make sense even for those who aren’t familiar with educational jargon. If you are an administrator, please check in with subs at the start of each … Read More
