We’re all struggling with heightened anxiety these days. And for subs, the nature of our job is not conducive to relaxation. Simply being a substitute teacher in Chicago Public Schools is not a job for someone who relies on order and predictability. Most of the time you are expected to just jump in and get to work, making sure that 15 or 30 or 50 children somewhere between the ages of 4 and 21 have a relatively successful school day and learn something, and that nobody gets hurt or dies in the process.
Tag: Teaching During COVID-19
Chicago Private and Charter Schools Receive $5 Million to Expand Enrollment
Philanthropist and school choice advocate Janine Yass teamed up with the Center for Education Reform, to award $5 million in RESCUE Grants to Chicago private and charter schools with the “capacity and interest in expanding quickly.”
Parents Don’t Appreciate a “Vaccination Awareness Day” That Doesn’t Really Help Get Kids Vaccinated
The canceled classes on Friday, November 12 feels like another instance where CPS and the City of Chicago have passed the buck, shifting the burden of planning and forethought from an institutional responsibility to individual parents and families.
It Is Time to Examine the Systems Contributing to Teacher Burnout
Wednesday started out like any other; I left my house at 7 am to drive to my school campus, where I teach bilingual early childhood special education. Out of nowhere, I burst into tears. I thought to myself, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. Not just today. I don’t know if I can do this any day,…
Our Kids Need Flexible Learning
Until the pandemic forced us to rethink learning, the structure of school went unchanged for decades. Educators certainly refined their craft, incorporating new tools and knowledge about how students learn, but if Rip Van Winkle fell asleep during math class in 1919 and woke up a hundred years later, he would have no trouble recognizing the rigid structures and routines of the school day.
Dear Pandemic Homeschooler
Dear Pandemic Homeschooler, Nobody in your family has done this before. Take a minute and take that in. It is back-to-school time and there are a lot of questions surrounding what that looks like for children. Many parents, after losing faith in their school system, are eager to explore homeschooling. So, they turn to the internet and discover it is…
‘I’m Here:’ Hamline Starts off Strong
At Hamline Elementary in Back of the Yards, showing up and wearing masks are a snap. But can Hamline pinpoint students’ academic holes and fill them?
Summertime = Time to Relax While Learning and Having Fun
While summer of 2021 isn’t, thank God, like summer 2020, it still isn’t the “normal” summer that I’m used to. And, this summer, schools around the country are focused on finding ways to re-engage families and students and addressing learning losses many children have sustained after nearly two school years of remote learning. For me, as a teacher and a…