On the last day of this school year, we had a lockdown at my school. I teach at an elementary charter school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque has no shortage of gun violence, and I hardly even flinch anymore when I hear a sound that could be a gunshot, or a firework, at night. I…
Tag: Josi Lacrete
Classroom Supplies Wish List
It’s the last week of school, and I’m already thinking about what to put on my classroom supplies list for next year. The simplest things that come to mind include pencils, notebooks, paper, yadda, yadda, yadda. All the normal stuff for a second grade class. But if I could really ask for anything, what would…
Celebrate May with us! (Sunday Summary)
“I cannot tell you how it was,But this I know: it came to passUpon a bright and sunny dayWhen May was young; ah, pleasant May!” With only 30 days in April to celebrate poetry, there was no way to include all of the poems or poets we wanted to. And in order to include not…
Teaching the Titanic
My Obsession with the Titanic Earlier this month was the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Usually, around this time of year I sit down to watch Jack and Rose fall in love and die on screen, relishing in the music, the costumes, the exhilarating spectacle that is the James Cameron movie. I scour…
Optimism (Sunday Summary)
The Sunday Summary for the week of 21 March 2022-26 March 2022 has us celebrating a first for the 2 Rules of Writing team and has us looking forward to more new things. This week’s stories are filled with love, hope and even perhaps optimism for the future. New pages have been added to the…
Dance Studio and Classroom
The other day, one of my second grade students, Sally, invited me to her seventh birthday party. Be Careful what you Wish For She is young for this grade. Most of the other students are seven turning eight. She actually skipped first grade. And when you think about the pandemic online year she suffered through,…
Sunday Summary: What a Depressing Week
Welcome to our Sunday Summary for the week of 2/20/2022-2/26/2022. It’s been a week of contrasts. Exciting in some ways, depressing in others. We saw a tremendous increase in visits to the website as people read Erika’s moving analysis of the damage that Florida’s pending “Don’t Say Gay” legislation would have on children and we…
Bad Words
“Ms. Lacrete, Ms. Lacrete! Carlyle said a bad word!” Most of the time, when a student complains to me that someone in class said a bad word to them, the recourse is to sit the two students down, and figure out what made them so upset as to curse in the first place. My students…
Managing Student Behavior: A Class Under Control
Learning vs. Classroom Management Teaching elementary school involves managing student behavior. In fact, managing the kids is most of the job. You can plan the best, most engaging lessons in the world, have all your materials ready, and then bomb the actual lesson if you can’t quiet the class down, and keep the class clownery…
Can’t I Leave you all Alone for a Second?
Let me set the scene: It’s independent reading time in my second grade classroom. Everyone is busy reading a physical or virtual book of their choice. No one needs water, the bathroom, or any of a million other things they usually need me for. If I warn them I’m going, then suddenly they are hyper-aware…