The Importance of Connections

Human connection - we thrive on it as educators. Relationships are everything in our profession. So, being away from these relationships, away from connection-making for the last two years has been a struggle for many of us. I know I missed the proximity and support of colleagues, that's for sure.This past week, I had the opportunity to return to the Spring CUE Conference in Palm Springs, California - the first in-person event that I've gone to in the last two years. And while I was excited to be back in the throws of an EdTech conference, a big part of that was being with my people again. I missed catching up with friends that I haven't seen IRL since pre-COVID. Social media DMs and chats...

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The Good, Bad and Ugly

So often in the education realm, teachers feel obligated to do more, take on more, be more. We are often made to feel guilty for taking a sick day - the burden of the sub shortages across the nation being put on our backs. We get looks from administrators for being that teacher that leaves on time at the end of our contractual day. We have parents of students upset when we aren't able to answer emails or phone calls at 10 o'clock at night. Seeing how the general public responded to teachers this past year puts me on edge. Teachers were initially praised for pivoting so quickly and switching from traditional in-person teaching to remote teaching in a matter of a couple of weeks. But when...

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A New Beginning?

So, the blog that I had been writing for a couple of years mysteriously disappeared from Blogger. Disappeared as in I have no idea what happened to it. I'm not sure if it was deleted by Google...but my original "The Write Combo" is MIA. And I just couldn't have that.So here goes TWC, Version 2.0. If it's been a while since the last time you read...let me reintroduce myself. My name is Kristin. (Hello and thanks for being here!) I am a 30-something-year-old from Southern California. I teach a 1st/2nd Special Day Class for students with mild to moderate disabilities. This year will be 11th year teaching and 12+ years in public education. Apart from being a full-time teacher,...

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