Category: Professional Learning
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How Cheesecake Solves (Almost) Everything
Last night, I laughed and laughed and truly enjoyed myself at The Bored Teachers Comedy Tour. Laughter is such a necessity in the field of education especially in our current situation with teacher shortages and budget cuts. Rather than continue to post about strategies, I decided to pivot to something…
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The Real Difference Between “Turn and Talk” and “Think-Pair-Share”
This week, I was reflecting on a couple of strategies used often in the classroom: ‘Think-Pair-Share’ and ‘Turn and Talk’. Many educators use these terms interchangeably, but they are not the same strategy. It’s a common point of confusion, one I’ve even caught myself in. What if that small difference…
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Press Pause: Turning Passive Video Watching into Active Learning
This week, I had the pleasure of walking through classrooms and seeing some fantastic curriculum resources in action. But it also got me thinking: having great materials is only half the battle. How do we ensure those resources translate into deep, lasting student learning? The chai is ready and so…
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Beyond the Bookshelves
This week’s post is more a Love Letter to Librarians. It stems from my love of books and the many, wonderful friends I have who dedicate their lives to being the kind of educators and advocates we all need. With my cuppa ready; here I go. The Librarian as a…
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From Overwhelmed to Empowered
Although my work involves supporting new teachers primarily, some of the ideas I am sharing in this post about getting the most out of required Professional Development may be helpful to experienced educators. I will be referencing Malcolm Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory, George Siemens’ Connectivism Theory, and the Learning Forward…
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Your Future Self Will Thank You: Tips for Avoiding Spreadsheet Chaos
Data is quite the buzz word in education when shaping learning for both students and teachers. I’ve been elbow deep in data recently and realized the importance of backward designing my Google Forms to generate a clean Sheet that I can manipulate easily. I want to share some of the…
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The Hero’s First Steps: A Survival Guide to August & September
As your Fairy Tea Mother, I plan to continue discussing the Phases of a First Year Teacher compared to the Hero’s Journey. I will post at the beginning of each phase throughout the year. In between will be regular posts about other topics. The tea is ready, so let’s start…
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Be the Marigold: How to Support New Teachers
This post wraps-up my pseudo-series inspired by Cult of Pedagogy‘s “Find Your Marigold.” I’ve discussed how to find those marigolds in a digital age, how to generate a support stack with marigolds as an important part, and today I share how a person can be a marigold to support others.…
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Building Your 2025 Teacher Support Stack
I invite you to pour a cup of your favorite tea and read about ways new teachers can find the support they need on their journey through their first year. I will reference the “Find Your Marigold” from Cult of Pedagogy and my previous blog post if you would like…
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Still Seeking Your Marigold: How to Cultivate Support in the Digital Age
Thank you for joining me for another cup of tea. Today I honor a life changing concept and offer ways to continue embracing its philosophy over a decade later. If you have yet to enjoy Jennifer Gonzalez’s Cult of Pedagogy post Finding Your Marigold, please take a moment to read…
An Educational Cup of Tea 