Inspiration
Failure in the Kitchen and in the Classroom
Anyone who has ever attempted to cook has burned something. It happens. And when it does happen, it is very tangible. You can see the burn, taste the burn, smell the burn. It’s immediate and signals us to make changes. Do we throw it out? Do we fix it? Can we make an adjustment and…
Read MoreThe Power of Guided Math
When we joined forces with Laney Sammons in 2014, we knew Guided Math was going to be a special and exciting addition to ERG services. Alice and I were ready for the challenge of going the next level with supporting math teachers and excited to have an expert math instructor willing to mentor our team…
Read MoreOther Stuff
Dear ERG, I read your recent post about job hate and think I might need a job change. I love teaching and I love my students, but I don’t like all the other things I have to do. How should I start my move into doing something else? Signed, Need a Change Dear Need a…
Read MoreWhat You Feed is What You Grow
When you grow up in the southern United States, you grow up around food. It’s how we create community and build fellowship. The culture is figuratively and literally rooted in the soil (or red clay as the case may be for some of us), and those of us of a certain age learned the seasons…
Read MoreYour People
It is very tempting to be frustrated with the current state of education, get annoyed with colleagues and/or leaders, and work really hard to become an island. During this back to school season, it is not uncommon to carry our former issues right through the front door and hold them tight as we begin another…
Read MoreLittle Lessons from Australia
In case you missed it, ERG went to Australia earlier this month. It was a lot of things, but most of all, it was a true learning experience – even for “experts” like us. Looking back, here are a few things we learned: 1. Be less busy. We stayed in a suburb of Sydney called…
Read MoreWhat Teachers Would Really Appreciate
Once a year, we celebrate teachers with Teacher Appreciation Week. We gather cards and flowers and chocolate and scour Target for the cutest items. It’s fun to shower our teachers with gifts! It’s also important to express our gratitude for what teachers do for our students. However, I think there are a few things teachers…
Read MoreWho Can You Control?
Take a look at this diagram below: The circle in the middle is you. The circle around the dot is what you can influence. Everything outside of that circle needs to be taken off your plate. Because it is not yours. This is a simple idea with some important details: What you focus on will…
Read MoreWhy Not You?
I don’t believe in coincidences. I was thumbing through a bookshelf in a classroom and came across the book I Am Malala. Now, I would like to tell you that I have read it cover to cover and it changed my life, but I have not. I have never read the book, only the headlines…
Read MoreThe Teacher is the Heart
There is a guy from North Carolina who once said, “You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” Besides playing basketball, creating iconic shoes, and being in the movie Space Jam, he basically exemplifies the growth mindset that we want to establish in our classrooms and our schools. Let’s take this quote…
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