I am becoming increasingly convinced that schools do not collapse because of violence, poverty, bad parenting, TikTok, budget cuts, or whatever moral panic adults are screaming about this week. Schools collapse because the adults stop believing in each other. That is the real rot. Not the phones. Not the profanity. Not even the apathy. The rot starts when teachers quietly decide that nothing outside their own classroom matters anymore. Between classes this week, I saw a stude

Here’s how you know a policy is about to become your problem: It’s clear in writing. It’s flexible in conversation. And it’s your “best judgment” when the fallout arrives. This is not a blog about bathroom passes. It’s a blog about administrative gray areas — and how teachers end up injured by them. A quick vignette A student asks to go to the restroom during class. I follow the guidance we’ve been verbally given for years: restroom use during instruction is for emergencies.

There’s helpful, and then there’s hostile takeover with lawn equipment . Yesterday I got the second one. A seventy-eight-year-old...

So there I was—called into my administrator's office during my legally protected prep time like a scene out of a workplace thriller where...

There are days in teaching when you feel like a pillar of wisdom and grace. And then there are days when a student walks out of a...

So there I was, minding my own prep period—my legally protected time to plan, prep, or—oh I don’t know— not be emotionally waterboarded...

I’m a teacher. I believe in leadership. Not the kind that hides behind closed doors or picks favorites in hushed conversations, but the...

It started innocently enough—like most horror stories. Just a cheerful little email asking me to choose between two mysterious teaching...

Filed under: Boundary-Setting, Academia's Hot Mess Express, and Why I Trust My Gut Even When It’s Tired I was recently contacted to...

Let me tell you a tale of resilience, innovation, poor decision-making, and a complete disregard for instructions. For weeks —literal...