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The Urge to Connect Educators are relational by nature. We thrive on connection, conversation, and community. In schools, where the lines between personal and professional often blur, it can feel natural to share pieces of our lives with colleagues. We talk about our families, our frustrations, our health, our exhaustion, and sometimes, our opinions about leadership or coworkers. What begins as a harmless conversation can quietly cross into oversharing, altering how we are pe

Fundamental Friday: Approach with a Candle “Some will see your flame and want to blow it out… others will approach with a candle.” —...

Fundamental Friday: Reimagining Tradition in Public Spaces Every October, schools across the country prepare for costume parades, themed...

When Classroom Management Becomes Emotional Exhaustion There is a quiet exhaustion that can settle into even the most seasoned teachers....

Fundamental Friday: Learning How to Fail Failure. For many of us, that word still carries weight; red ink on a paper, a closed door, a...

Fundamental Friday: "Explain It to Me Like I’m in Kindergarten" Isn’t a Step Back, It’s the First Step Forward The first time a student...

Fundamental Friday: Becomes, Not Outcomes In education, we often hear the term' outcomes.' Test scores. Graduation rates. College...

Fundamental Friday: Sarcasm Isn’t a Classroom Management Tool Oh, wonderful. Another teacher is using sarcasm as a classroom management...

Blue When I explain what an evaluation rubric is (for teachers or any professional context), I often refer to it as the foundation of...

There Is No Such Thing as a "Curricular Disability" I have heard educators say, “I taught it, they didn’t learn it.” Let’s pause here. If...

I received (not once, but twice) the end-of-the-year “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty” award from an organization I worked for. On the...

This week, as my daughter shows her rabbits as part of 4-H at the county fair, I am reminded of the unique and essential role...

In the fall of 2020, I remember walking past the local playground. The swings were wrapped in yellow caution tape. The climbing structure...

Rewriting the Script on Parent Partnerships As educators prepare to launch a new school year, a familiar narrative is resurfacing across...

Summer in education is a break and a bridge. A quiet, necessary pause between the final bell and the next chapter. The school year is...

When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the foundations of schooling, many of us found ourselves looking up and seeing no clear direction....

Community engagement is the most overused, underdefined term in education. We list it in mission statements. We reference it in grants....

“We are not here to make things harder. We are here to make things matter.” It’s a truth that every great educator eventually learns: The...

We say we want students to engage. We design lessons that encourage discourse. We ask open-ended questions, create accountable talk...

Leadership is more than encouragement; it’s about empowerment. There’s a subtle but powerful difference between saying “I’m so proud of...