I was reborn as a teacher during the 2020-2021 school year, out of both necessity and desire. The necessity, of course, was the challenge of “pandemic teaching,” having 6 students in the room with me (on good days) and 18 on the screen behind me. Many of the methods I had previously used were just not going to work in this environment.
The desire just happened to coincide with the necessity. A transformation to my teaching practices had been a long time in the making. For years I experimented with ways to deal with my students’ mounting anxiety and obsession with their grades. I fantasized about assessing without grades, but I always stopped short of actually doing that. Then, in January of 2020, I found the courage to abandon traditional grading practices in favor of a qualitative, holistic approach. This one shift changed everything. And I finally feel like I am the teacher I always wanted to be.
This website offers some of the lessons, ponderings, and practices that have been part of my evolution as an educator. I hope you find something here helpful.
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About Me
English teacher since 2006. Yogi since 2008. Mom since 2011. I’m still in the process of becoming fully me, but these three roles—and the people I’m with in them—contribute to my growth every day. #grateful
Photo disclaimer: These are my kids in 2018. This is not real life. I saw them sitting like this, and I said to myself, “OMG! I have to take a picture! They look like they love reading and each other. This may never happen again!” And since one of my #lifegoals is to be honest as often as possible (within reason, of course), I am putting that truth here on my homepage.
Ms. Hastings 