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Are You a Hulk Mom?
I’ve never thought mindfulness buzz will become part of my purposeful existence. Let me tell you: yoga, meditation, all these talks about feelings, acknowledging what we experience, and how we process this world – it all seemed to be done by fragile people from another planet, but not me. I’m a woman with a full-time job as a teacher, two kids, a house full of problems, and I have nooo time for this cr&p. I was convinced I can move forward and crash all the hurdles like a thousand-ton Russian ice breaker. I was on the expedition to my ideal life, could afford no days off. I was killing it.…
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Next TpT or Instagram Star?
I like the way education and educational resources have become commercialized, wrapped in the box with the possibility to be delivered into your mailbox or to your door. The idea of knowledge, skills, and opportunities to be fostered only in the classroom is long gone. Now everyone, from toddlers to beginner teachers, moms, education enthusiasts, and 70-year-old want-to-be entrepreneurs have access to personalized, carefully preplanned, quality courses, webinars, Ebooks to suit anyone’s needs. The modern trend for sharing knowledge no matter your status and educational experience is allowing new opportunities for those who want to receive education in a general sense and, most importantly, for those on the other side…
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5 Things I Wish TpT Sellers Stopped Doing.
My black and white printer was choking, scrambling to process all the jobs I kept on sending, flashing desperate “cartridge low on ink” messages. By September 20th, both of my robust machines gave up. A block of 700 printer paper ran out in front of my eyes. And that was the beginning of the school year. “I feel like a cargo train ran over me,” – I said to my husband at the end of the second week of September. I never felt so resourceless and overwhelmed. Starting to teach the 2nd grade for the first time honestly felt like getting to the moon with no equipment. Well, not precisely…
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Why Most New Teacher Advice is Senseless.
I did it too! My blog features some posts offering tips to new teachers. Ironically, during my third year of teaching, I felt I mastered the basics: discipline, WIDA standards, building relationships, confidence during observations, routines, and procedures for smooth class functioning. Thus, having survived the first year of sink-or-swim teaching experience, I figured I could spare some advice to a new teacher. Like many, my posts called for not giving up, taking it easy, and opening oneself to learning. For some odd reason, these teachings now sound as senseless as saying a brief “just take it easy” to a woman giving birth without an epidural. How could I be…
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Why Most Resourceful Educators Leave Classrooms.
The decision about staying in or leaving the teaching job is taken by 80% of educators within the first five years of teaching. Five years seem like a lifetime to me. I was done with school already after my first year as a new teacher. “It was hard” – cannot describe the emotional and physical imbalance I found myself in. And now, going into my fourth year, I’m trying to rationalize decisions and figure out what the comfort place in education looks like for me, or it’s just a myth. “This is the time to try different positions and grade levels,” – veteran teachers say. “You are still a fresh…
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10 Sir Ken Robinson Quotes That Will Make You Think Differently About Education & Teaching.
How Sir Ken Robinson Quotes Pierce Through The Crap In Education & Why It’s Good If You Suck At Something. Sir, Ken Robinson quotes have the force of instantly placing the education problems into the limelight. They are bold, provocative, daring, and most importantly, they draw an often sad reality of education in a classroom. How do we educate children so that they could create not just follow rules? Are we educating compliant kids? Are we bold enough to question assessment, routines, content we are implementing and teaching? Why do kids grow up to be miserable adults? How can we guarantee that every child has a fair shot to get…
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5 Ways to Turn The Anxious Teacher Mode Down.
Three years ago, in the first year of my career, I envied young teachers in their 3rd or 4th year of teaching, thinking they already have it all to make the year easy. Being at a higher level of experience might make you a different, happier, more confident teacher, I thought. This September will be my 4th year of teaching, but the feelings are a reflection of the past: lost, overwhelmed without reason. And then it occurred to me that 10th year of teaching might not change anything in the job perception because it’s not about the years of experience, it’s about attitude, the way one sees a career, the…
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Ways To Shake Off Anxiety Before a New School Year.
New school year announces itself as a familiar soundtrack: TV commercials of back-to-school deals. Really? It’s still August, isn’t it? Am I running out of time or have I wasted hours giving my mind a break instead of planning and preparing? Is this going to be a repeat of the previous year? Unnecessary panic attack… If this sounds familiar, then you need to know how to shake off the unwanted fear or anxiety of having to do everything or start working when your summer vacation is still in a full swing mode. 2019-2020 will be my 4th year as a public school teacher. If you ask me whether I know…
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5 Non-toxic Self-care Items for a Budgeting Teacher.
Guess what! I’m a Michelle Phan secret fan although, among the two items of make-up I hold hostage, mascara is the scariest and most sophisticated tool. What I really admire about this smart businesswoman/make-up artist/You-Tuber is her promotion of personal value and natural beauty with excellent, intelligent skin products. For a while, I’ve been a shopper at a local Walgreens. Most of my toiletries would come from the pharmacy. Only recently, being more selective about personal care products has become so important. While shopping online, I turn into a complete nerd. It’s the time to choose carefully, compare prices, most importantly, investigate the ingredients and read customer reviews. I discovered…
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You Can Do It Only In Summer!..
“Why would the school have immigrant teachers who can’t really tell much about American life? I’m talking about baseball, football,” – an exchange student of 15 years old was grilling me in the classroom in front of other ten anxious teenagers who came to the US mostly to experience American YOLO type of life. My face was red, I was sweating in a conditioned room stacked with apple computers for smarts kiddos. “Why did I get this group? Why did I agree to teach this summer school?!” – I wanted to disappear into the oblivion. That happened about four years ago. Back then, I was eager to experiment, get more…
