Classroom Ecosystem
My classroom is My classroom is an ecosystem. An ecosystem is all about interaction and each and every school day the students interact with one another and the space we have made. It is a community of 7-year-old learners. Living beingsMoving, walking, talking, Bumping, wincing, helping Learning is our sun.Knowing more, pushing on.thirsty. For knowledge, for…
On Fandom and Community
Community springs up in so many places. Neighborhoods, schools, churches. When one of our children was still “sitting-in-the-grocery-cart” size, my wife once formed a friendship with another mom of a little at the grocery store. Affinity groups and sports are nothing new, but in recent decades we do have community popping up around shared interest…
Closing the Chapter: An End-of-Year Classroom Routine with Meaning
From the Classroom We knew it was coming; the temperatures rise, giving way to sweatier recess times, and eventually the state tests are over and spring break is well in the rear view mirror. It’s here. The end of the school year. When a school year ends I have conflicting feelings. I celebrate the remarkable…
From the Bookshelf: My thoughts on Regie Routman’s 2024 book The Heart Centered Teacher
Regie Routman’s The Heart Centered Teacher mixes memoir, up to date stories, and expert teacher advice providing a north star to the busy and stressed out teacher of 2025. The last 12 months have been tremendously gratifying and validating for me as an educator. At year 7 in the field, I have my footing. So…
I Believe in Public Schools
I am thankful for the public schoolhouse. With its open doors to all students. I am thankful for it because I believe in the power of an educated communityTo make a difference in this worldTo build bridges I am thankful for public schoolsFrom the one room schoolhouseTo the packed halls of todayFor schools rural, urban, rich, poor,…
The 2nd Quarter Reset
My first year teaching, I had a one-week fall break at the end of the first quarter. I’d never experienced such a thing as a student. I found it was a perfect time to reset things. Returning from fall break, we had a new seating chart, some updated classroom norms, and I had adjusted our…
Systems and Feedback Loops in the Classroom: Check-ins and Reflections
Students in my class have a “work plan” that they receive each week. It’s a sort of “task list meets lessonplan” that is slightly different for each student (or in certain instances, dramatically different). One of the work routines in my classroom looks like this: a short lesson on reading/writing is followed by a small…
Systems and Feedback Loops
My mind is busy and likes to have something to work on. To that end, I’ve been thinking about systems and feedback loops. Systems thinking, in a nutshell, is taking a broad look at something, for me, a school/classroom, and observing and analyzing it’s inter-connectedness. Realizing that the sum is greater than the parts and…
First Day
I wrote this a couple of years ago and it’s still absolutely true: The first day of school is ELECTRIC!Seriously, it’s magical. Seriously, it’s magical. It’s in the air in the hallways; breathe it in The slightest tremor in the voice of a teacher. There aren’t even students here yet, and still It is the…
What Will I Subtract Next Year?
In a previous post, I wrote broadly about using Leidy Klotz’s ideas from Subtract and applying them to education. I’d love to see some of those principles applied broadly to district and building level decisions. While I work toward such aims, I’ll focus on what I can control: my classroom. Here are a few ways…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Tim's Teaching Thoughts 