Education, Math, and More with Mr. Allison

It's that time of year again in education. The end draws near. At my school, we started the final quarter of this school year last week. A lot of stuff comes with that. Seniors are almost finished, really finished. Everyone--teachers and students--has summer on the mind. Prom, scholarships, letters of recommendation, graduation, testing, and a ton of other stuff that all comes at the end of the school year. Most of it exciting and fun. But not all of it. Some kids are moving after the year ends and may be kind of nervous and anxious about the unknown. Seniors are leaving the world they've known for 13 years and struggle with uncertainty too, even while they're excited about the prospects. Teachers, as relieved as they are to see the light at the end of the tunnel, this can be a stressful time too. Teachers' contracts are year-to-year, so everyone is wondering if they're contract will be renewed. Testing is stressful for teachers too, since results are often tied to ...

It makes a difference! Today was the first day of my 18th year as a teacher. At lunch with the rest of the district, another teacher from a different school walked up to me and said, "[Former student] still talks about you all the time, and how much of an impact you had on her." I taught her daughter more than 10 years ago and she was always a great kid. But it meant a lot to hear that today. Times change in everything, including education. One year things are great and the next may be completely different. We have good years and bad years, plenty of ups and downs as classroom teachers. It can be a tough class, an issue in your personal life, a change in administration, or a treasured colleague moving to greener pastures. Lots of things can make a year tough, and sometimes they string together, one after another.  Even when there's a still a lot of good around you, sometimes the bad things outweigh all the good. That's why a comment like I received today is so importa...