The last day of this weird, unsettled roller coaster of a school year is finally here. I’m relieved, nostalgic and a little hopeful as we head into summer break. I went into the building this week to proctor the Living Environment Regents exam. This is one of the exams that HAD to be given as …
Author Archives: sara anne liebman
What no one is talking about…
I definitely had a lot of feelings when I saw the Chancellor’s email yesterday about school reopening in September without a remote option and with more questions than answers. But one thing I’ve really been thinking about this semester is how no one seems to want to hear that remote learning is actually beneficial for …
Literature Break: Concrete Rose
I recently read Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. The main character, Maverick, was the father in The Hate U Give, and Concrete Rose was his backstory. This was a wonderful book. This story was not as plot heavy as The Hate U Give, but it was an important story nonetheless. We followed Maverick through gang …
And we’re back…
In the waning hours of 2021’s spring break, I am thinking about returning to my school building tomorrow. High school buildings reopened to students the last week before spring break, and my school said that teachers who are not on medical accommodation need to report at least once a week. I report to school on …
How Do You Measure A Year?
March 13, 2020 was a lot of things. A Friday. Friday the 13th. A week after my birthday. The last normal day of school and daycare before the world changed. The last time I took the subway. The last time I saw my students in person. Weirdly, I have one of the self-contained classes again …
Things I Wish I’d Learned As A Student Teacher, Part 2
As I continue working with my student teacher, I continue to wonder what my transition to teaching would have been like if I had actually had a student teaching experience. Now, I don’t regret my undergrad experience at all. In fact, I’m grateful for it. But if I’d taken a different route to teaching, I …
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That time I responded to a post on Twitter…
I have a Twitter account, but I don’t generally post anything there. I just use it to see what people are saying about education, politics…and to see what Lin-Manuel Miranda is up to this week. I saw that a City Councilman, Mark Treyger, posted something about education. This is not novel or anything because Treyger …
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Things I Wish I Learned as a Student Teacher…
Starting this week, I will be mentoring a student teacher. I did not have much of a student teaching experience as a Teaching Fellow, but I’ve been thinking about things that I wish I’d learned then but didn’t. Don’t take students’ behavior personally. Their anger is not about you. It might be directed at you …
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A New Beginning?
I know, I know…the question mark doesn’t quite convey the optimism that a lot of us are hoping to feel. I got my first dose of the long awaited vaccine (Moderna, for those keeping score). I can’t quite describe the emotions I felt when that needles pricked my arm. Relief. Hope. Concern over whether others …
Where do we go from here?
I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking about what I’m going to say to my students tomorrow. This has been such a wild and confusing roller coaster for everyone. From the pandemic changing many things we took fro granted, including school, to racial unrest this summer, a contentious election and now an attempt coup…it’s …
Meditations on Literature and Literacy...Continued 