The Tattooed Teacher

“Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Or, in today’s terms, “Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my Snapchat, so Snapchat me maybe?” Shakespeare. This one name makes most people cringe. Admit it, you just snarled and remembered your own experience with this guy, whether it be in the awkward middle school years,  the confusing high school years, or if you’re lucky enough, the dog days of college. As a member of society at the almost ripe age of 25, I will admit, I barely remember learning about Bill Shakespeare in the awkward and confusing years of school. The only memory I have is of my freshman English teacher, Farnsy as we called her, fast forwarding through the old version of Romeo and Juliet during the part every high schooler giggles at. Also, I remember watching different classmates act out the fighting scenes with cut-in-half pool noodles. However, at the seasoned aged I am, his words are forever tattooed on me. So, it begs the question: is...

Poetry. The “Bane” of every freshman’s existence. No, really, the freshman despise poetry just as much as Batman despises Bane, just as much as Voldemort despises Harry, and almost as much as I despise dabbing and bottle flipping as a teacher. Thank God those fads were short lived! Of course I saw this as a challenge: how to make poetry interesting. Que the inspirational “Rocky” music, past lessons, and of course, Pinterest aka a teacher’s best friend. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t listening to the “Rocky” theme song, but I was listening to music, which got me thinking. All of a sudden, I stumbled upon an old lesson I had saved that paired figurative language with popular song lyrics. BOOM! That was how I was going to make poetry interesting: turn Shakespeare, Poe, and Angelou into Bieber, Jovi, and Swift! You literary people out there, do not look down on me for comparing Angelou to T-Swift...those lessons were completely separate! We began our learning about the main figurative lang...

        As I sit here enclosed by papers that need to be graded, planning binders that need to be sorted out, copies that need to be made, and a never ending to do list, I enjoy the cookie bar I snagged from the teacher lounge and think, life couldn’t get any better. Now, it may be the tacky tourist getup I am wearing for homecoming week (think Dora 2.0) or the fact that it is sunny out, but, ladies and gentlepeople, the teacher life couldn’t be more chaotically perfect.         I have to apologize for not getting a post out sooner. If you have ever had a life, you know it gets in the way and many ideas get pushed to the back burner, even if they are important to you.         Well, here we are. It is only three months until the end of the year. Some major points that have happened along the journey of classroom 115 have opened my eyes as a teacher and some that have also made me want...

Ladies and gentlemen, the school year has begun. Even though it has only been almost two weeks, I woke up today, a Monday, feeling like Bruce off Bruce Almighty when Jennifer Aniston pulls the cover off of him and he flops on the bed like a fish not wanting to wake up. I love school, but everyone knows the schedule is hard to get back into. The new possibilities a teacher is faced with every new school year seem endless. We tell ourselves that we will do better with classroom management, we will try to avoid "movie" days to ensure more instruction time, we will get to the district achievement goal for testing on the state test, and we will inspire our students to want to come to school. Now, I know I'm only a third year teacher, but ever since I have started my teaching career, it has been about much more than that. In my classroom, I want to teach my students to better themselves everyday, to strive not only in the classroom but in life, to find inspiration in ...

The Beginning of Something Beautiful Hello, all! I am excited to share with you a blog dedicated to my life in the classroom. It will include tales of horror and triumph, ideas that are out of this world, and, of course, student praise. The idea of this blog came about when the gears started turning for the mere thought of painting a Before I Die chalkboard wall in my classroom. It has always been on my bucket list to find and write on one, so why not bring the same philosophy into the classroom? I know what some of you may be thinking, "That's morbid, Heather," and you're right. My principal expressed that same concern, which is why we made a deal to change it to the, "Before I Graduate" chalkboard wall and he would approve. Done deal! I had permission! Last time I painted a wall, it was without permission and it got my phone taken away by my parents. Now, I was more than amped to get this project started. It was the end of the year and summer wa...