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Fundamental Friday
Fundamental Friday is a weekly blog series that returns to the core values of education, equity, purpose, relationships, and reflection. It’s a space to explore big ideas, ground daily practice in meaningful beliefs, and reconnect with the “why” behind our work.


Building Belonging Through the Stories We Tell
Storytelling as a Teaching and Learning Tool Why Storytelling Matters Storytelling is more than a teaching strategy; it is a human connector. Stories invite students into learning with emotion, context, and purpose, transforming information into something memorable and meaningful. When we build lessons around narrative structure, we honor the way the brain naturally learns: through patterns, connections, and lived experience. What Storytelling Does for Learners Stories create
Catherine Addor
Nov 21, 20252 min read


Where Wonder Begins and Learning Deepens
Fundamental Friday: Building the Fundamentals of Inquiry Learning In every classroom, inquiry begins the moment a student wonders. That spark (small, curious, sometimes messy) is the first step in a cycle that shapes deeper thinking: Wonder → Explore → Investigate → Create → Reflect → Share. Inquiry isn’t a strategy you sprinkle on top of instruction; it is the structure that brings learning to life. It gives students a reason to think, a purpose to explore, and an authentic
Catherine Addor
Nov 14, 20253 min read


The Cost of Oversharing: Knowing When to Speak and When to Step Back
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
Catherine Addor
Nov 7, 20253 min read


Approach with a Candle
Fundamental Friday: Approach with a Candle “Some will see your flame and want to blow it out… others will approach with a candle.” —...
Catherine Addor
Oct 31, 20253 min read


Fall into Belonging: Rethinking How We Celebrate Together
Fundamental Friday: Reimagining Tradition in Public Spaces Every October, schools across the country prepare for costume parades, themed...
Catherine Addor
Oct 24, 20253 min read


Fundamental Friday
When Classroom Management Becomes Emotional Exhaustion There is a quiet exhaustion that can settle into even the most seasoned teachers....
Catherine Addor
Oct 17, 20253 min read


The Art of Failing Forward
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...
Catherine Addor
Oct 10, 20253 min read


Explain It to Me Like I’m in Kindergarten
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...
Catherine Addor
Oct 3, 20253 min read


Education as Becoming: A Different Kind of Success
Fundamental Friday: Becomes, Not Outcomes In education, we often hear the term' outcomes.' Test scores. Graduation rates. College...
Catherine Addor
Sep 26, 20252 min read


Breaking the Habit: Shifting from Sarcasm to Constructive Talk
Fundamental Friday: Sarcasm Isn’t a Classroom Management Tool Oh, wonderful. Another teacher is using sarcasm as a classroom management...
Catherine Addor
Sep 19, 20253 min read


Fundamental Friday: What Shade of Blue? The Power of Precision in Rubrics
Blue When I explain what an evaluation rubric is (for teachers or any professional context), I often refer to it as the foundation of...
Catherine Addor
Sep 12, 20253 min read


Fundamental Friday
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...
Catherine Addor
Sep 5, 20253 min read


Stop Normalizing “Above and Beyond”
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...
Catherine Addor
Aug 29, 20253 min read


Fields of Opportunity: Why Every Student Deserves Ag Education
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...
Catherine Addor
Aug 22, 20252 min read


The COVID Babies Are Coming: What We Can Do to Be Ready — and Why It Matters
In the fall of 2020, I remember walking past the local playground. The swings were wrapped in yellow caution tape. The climbing structure...
Catherine Addor
Aug 15, 20253 min read


Fundamental Friday
Rewriting the Script on Parent Partnerships As educators prepare to launch a new school year, a familiar narrative is resurfacing across...
Catherine Addor
Aug 8, 20253 min read


Becoming Heart Ready
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...
Catherine Addor
Aug 1, 20253 min read


The Case for Collective Practice
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the foundations of schooling, many of us found ourselves looking up and seeing no clear direction....
Catherine Addor
Jul 25, 20253 min read


We’ve Been Doing It Wrong: Community Engagement Isn’t What You Think
Community engagement is the most overused, underdefined term in education. We list it in mission statements. We reference it in grants....
Catherine Addor
Jul 18, 20253 min read


Relevance Is Rigor That Resonates
“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...
Catherine Addor
Jul 11, 20252 min read
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