Teaching: it’s one of the most celebrated and most maligned professions around. Some days, we work too hard for far too little. Other days, we are glorified babysitters getting away with highway robbery. Whatever your opinions are on education, I’m not here to sway you. What I thought I’d do instead is give you a … [Read more…]
How many pencils does it take to function in a 22,000 square foot mega mansion? Zero, if you’re Betsy DeVos. If you somehow missed the tweet that one of her staffers posted after her first day of work at Secretary of Education, it was a joke that backfired tremendously. Politics aside, it proved something I’ve … [Read more…]
“Oh, dear. Bread and beer. If I were rich, I wouldn’t be here.” My grandma used to singsong this jingle when I was little. I would eagerly ask her where she would be. She was always quick to lock her fingers in mine and return a reminder that we could go wherever I wanted. Now … [Read more…]
Education is messy. Like any system, nothing in our public schools is simple. While it’s really easy to point the blame at teachers, school boards, and the government, the problems run deeper than that. Yesterday, it came to light that a school in Pennsylvania had enacted a controversial practice of trying to recoup the money … [Read more…]
To the people who say not to make your work your passion*, you’re right. Your approach is far more strategic and systematic. You will reach financial independence much faster pursuing a six-figure career than I will figuring out why teenagers are still tempted to cover their arms in glue whenever we create posters. You will … [Read more…]
“You only work nine months out of the year.” “You get the entire summer off.” There’s a lot of misinformation floating around the universe in terms of what teachers do during their time off. So, I thought maybe I’d set the record straight, at least partially. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t … [Read more…]
When I walked into work on a Friday halfway through my first year of teaching, I was smiling from ear to ear. The day before, I had my summative evaluation and my boss checked the recommended for rehire box. We shook hands and took turns signing on the dotted line. I set down my bag … [Read more…]
Last week, it was the Democratic sound bite heard round the Internet – or at least, my private Facebook feed: “When you’re white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor.” Bernie Sanders’ comment on institutional racism and systemic poverty eviscerated the … [Read more…]
In the middle of the week, I received the most exciting–and irritating–voicemail ever. Well, maybe not ever, but I can’t really remember all the way back to my middle school crank phone call days*. After thirty-six seconds, a tinny voice disconnected, and I realized that I had finally heard my first IRS scam. That’s right, … [Read more…]