Why Tzst Teacher?
I believe in teaching kids to think, so when I taught Kindergarten, I would often play with them with language–if they asked “can I go to the bathroom?” I would respond, “I don’t know, can you?” They...
View ArticleRules–Schools have too many!
Rules in my Kindergarten room were few–I hated having to enforce all the stupid ones schools make many times. (1 pack of ketchup at lunch, 1 napkin, etc.–how many of us adults use ONE pack of ketchup...
View ArticleNote: I began this post literally over month ago on November 1, but wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go with it after I told the story here. After receiving a comment asking me to write more on my...
View ArticleWhat’s the Rubric for “Pencil”?
A HUGE thanks to Becky Fisher (@beckyfisher73 on Twitter) who helped me think through this blog and who gave me words when mine got stuck in a quagmire of thoughts. This is a blog collaboratively...
View ArticleMy Half Time Pep Talk for 2009
I heard on May 2, 2009 on Twitter about a day for 24 Hours of Innovation. The quote on the web site said, ”We are happy to invite all bloggers to take part in the “My half time pep talk for 2009″...
View ArticleiPod Pilot Lesson-Station 3
On Thursday, May 21, 2009, ** Chris O’Neal ** brought a colleague from Fluvanna to observe my 3rd grade math students work with their iPods. The day before, I had discussed with my kids what they...
View ArticleWisdom and Wonder
Been thinking a lot lately about my years as a Kindergarten teacher. Saw a tweet the other day that said something like, “We could learn a lot from watching a great Kindergarten teacher.” Used to have...
View ArticleIncidental Learning #2
This post is a continued reflection of me going into a Kindergarten class to do a series of lessons on graphs and wondering about the incidental learning K kids are doing while I’m in there. The set...
View ArticleLife’s Curve Balls
Ya never know when life is going to throw you a curve ball and cement a belief, or make you forever look at it differently. So, one weekend in October, a long time ago when I was teaching Kindergarten,...
View Article