I have so many thoughts about this but mostly I appreciate Shana saying it. It means a lot to know people see this reality.

I'm going to aim for both of these things because we could all use some help these days. I appreciate the nudge in the right direction.

There are so many fewer people writing publicly (blogging, really, is what I mean) and I still enjoy those who do. Right now I'm feeling much gratitude to @edifiedlistener.bsky.social for the fact that she keeps writing and for how much her writing resonates with me.

College admissions (like so many other things in our society) are based, mostly, on very specific things that not everyone is good at. We miss a lot of awesome folks as a result. (My college GPA was under 3.0. My professional career in education is not, I think, what that would have predicted.)

Late last year, the US experienced the longest government shutdown in the country's history over GOP efforts to cut $70 billion in annual ACA subsidies. The US is now fighting a war, launched with zero public debate, that costs roughly $11 billion dollars per week. www.csis.org/analysis/ira...

I am not a sports person (I have many issues with competitive sports at various levels in our country) but my alma mater just won the DIII Men's Championship Basketball game and I have to admit it feels good.

📢 EDUCATOR GIVEAWAY! Don’t miss your chance to win a two-book picture book bundle containing UNBREAKABLE by Minoru Tonai and Jolene Gutiérrez and THREE PIECES OF BROKEN GLASS by Emily Barth Isler! 🍎 bit.ly/PB-bundle

Can we skip the April fools jokes tomorrow since this country is a joke?

I talk about their grown ups with my elementary students. Not every kid lives with their mom or dad. This piece is, not surprisingly, fabulous. I'm disappointed in Edutopia for the title.

In year 28 of elementary classroom teaching I have some rules I think should be adopted: - no school on April 1st, ever - Halloween is celebrated on the last Friday in October - June 7th should be a holiday until this 6-7 nonsense is over I'm sure I have more but I need spring break now!

And we have indoor recess...

It is our last day before spring break and it is obvious (we are all struggling). It's pajama day and we had a whole school assembly this morning and a fire drill. I can't decide if it's brilliant to throw things off on this day because it's something of a wash anyway or if it's just mean.

I am so grateful Shana posted this. I think it all the time but wouldn't have thought to share it. Yes. This. It's not a given that this is the road we will travel. We don't have to opt in.

"This war is so dumb," Sadly, yes. This sums up so much about 2026 (and 2025, sadly).

I wrote a book! It is amazing to see the final cover, spine, and back cover of the book that should be out in late June.

My hands were bright blue yesterday due to a science experiment. Then there’s a burn from me foolishly picking up a hot mandrel (the metal rod used to make glass beads) when it fell out of the kiln. I dropped it quickly! But any touch after metal has been in a 1,500 degree kiln is not good.

Oh man, I have so many thoughts about how we use technology in schools. (And I won an award for doing so from ISTE.) Technology has lowered the bar for strong instruction and distracted kids. It can be so good, but it mostly isn't.

As I've had more opportunities to write professionally (articles, three books) I have come to respect and be in awe of all kinds of editors. They are amazing and working with them has made my writing better and made me a better writer.

I’m reviewing page proofs for my new book and just read a bit I wrote about interruptions you can’t control that includes this parenthetical: fire drills, announcements, students unexpectedly, vomiting, etc. Have I ever, in nearly 30 years, had a student expectedly vomit?!! Why would I write that?

I am so tired today that I have been near tears multiple times. (My exhaustion is mostly my own fault, but the world is a disaster so that adds to it.) This news has made my brief social media scrolling during lunch a total win.

As usual, @christienold.bsky.social gets me thinking. This short thread is a great reminder to me to be more thoughtful about the environment I'm creating and my expectations.

My latest column 💯 www.ascd.org/el/articles/...

She's not wrong. Glad I took a few minutes of my lunch to enjoy this.

It's impossible for me to look at this diagram and not have slave ship design jump to mind.

I am so grateful to @samjshah.bsky.social for continuing to post on One Good Thing. It helps me think about my one good thing each day, even if I am not managing to write about it!

The world is a dumpster fire and there are so many things to be worked up about and I’m still able to feel unreasonable rage at so many driver’s inabilities to handle a four way stop.

All of it.

@jonbecker.bsky.social I’ve got a few hours mid-day tomorrow in RVA. Any advice on how I should spend them?

As the "good guy with a gun" hasn't helped in school shootings, we've now moved on to this. But we can't possibly restrict gun ownership.

As one who pays little to no attention to sports, today is quite the day to be on social media.

One of my goals at #Educon was to get remember to take pictures with people and I did a terrible job. That said, I’m glad I remembered when @clehmann.bsky.social and @mattrkay.bsky.social. I am grateful for a snow day tomorrow for the time to sit with my learning from this amazing weekend.

On our way to #Educon as a family! Psyched to see @clehmann.bsky.social, @dlaufenberg.bsky.social, @mattrkay.bsky.social, and everyone else! Seriously, y’all, I need time and communion with these folks right now.

This afternoon I mentioned that this date is not accurate, to the student who sets our schedule for each day. He fixed it. But my oldest noted that actually that date felt appropriate. I had to agree

I got to walk in the parade for Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration today with other members of the Virginia Education Association. It was a thrill to be a part of the inauguration of the fist female governor of Virginia.

My school district is adopting new math resources. Our core curriculum will be one of the following: STEMscopes, Kiddom, or Bridges. Anyone have thoughts on those? I believe we will also choose one digital resource: ST Math, IXL, Magma, or DreamBox.

I love a two week break for the winter but that first morning back I do struggle to remember some students’ names.

This short thread is fascinating. I think it well lays out the possible paths for both parties and I'm in full agreement with the end (if deeply concerned about whether or not we can get there).

@triangleman.bsky.social @tracyzager.bsky.social @kassiaowedekind.bsky.social And any other fabulous math people, any good resources on this for upper elementary? Thank you!

In a math meeting with my team of fourth grade teachers discussing our upcoming geometry unit. This is my 28th year of teaching and I still do not feel confident in my understanding of rays, lines, line segments, and such. For better or worse, I am not alone.

I've said it before and I will likely say it again and again, listen to Shana, people.

For the record, I’m not suggesting that teachers aren’t connecting as humans with their students. They are. But the system is making that harder and harder to do.

I’m at @vatll.bsky.social’s annual conference listening to Jody Carrington. She has me realizing that our systemic focus on data has pushed us to focus on teachers as instruction deliverers and assessors and lost them as people who connect with their students.

My new book is now available for preorder and I’m pretty psyched. Writing this book has been a passion project and a joy (and how lucky am I to be able to say that). It’s not due out until late spring/summer but seeing it online is really exciting for me.

This year, in my 28th year of elementary teaching, I am compartmentalized. I teach two groups of fourth graders math and science. My teammates teaches them language arts and social studies. I have fought being in this position for a long time. Now that I'm here, I can't imagine being happier. 1/

In helping a fourth grader with multiplication I reminded him that he could count by 5s to do 9 X 5. That didn’t seem to help so I held up 9 fingers. He gasped with recognition and then said, “I didn’t know I had 9 fingers.”

My fourth graders have learned several of the games from @gfletchy.bsky.social and @tracyzager.bsky.social's Fact Fluency kit for multiplication and division and I love listening in as they play. They love the games and they're skills are growing. The talk as they play is a bonus!

Latest ❤️

I shouldn’t be able to be surprised by anything from this administration, but this story shocked me. Hegseth’s attitudes & plans towards scouts feel like someone who didn’t get to be a part of a group. His response seems like he’s been hurt & he’s lashing out. Military kids need scouts as an option.

My fourth graders are researching planets. They have access to several online sites (Brain Pop, PebbleGo, Britannica School). We checked out a bunch of books from our school library as well. They cheered when I brought out the books. Way to make me love my job, kiddos.

Thank you @triangleman.bsky.social for this short thread and for the work. Ignoring that this is happening may be easy but it leads to a terrifying future.