Category: Life Lessons

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Start Low to Grow

Recently, my seven year old has started (loudly) expressing his disgust with me every time I remind him to do his assigned chore, pick up his room, help fold his laundry, etc. He is not interested in anything other than having fun, and honestly, sometimes I don’t blame him. In the midst of one of his defiant moments, he (again, loudly) said, “Mom! Why do you always have to boss me around and tell me to do things like clean my room?!” 

What I saw as a simple request for him to pick up his toys, he saw as me being mean and bossy. He saw it as a threat to his ability to choose for himself. And while that couldn’t be father from the truth, I can see why he might have thought that. As the adult, I can see the bigger picture at play here, and can see that teaching him basic skills when he is young will help him greatly as he gets older. As the kid, he only sees play time being taken away.

As his mom, part of my job is to teach foundational skills that will be built upon and that are necessary for successful adulthood. I wouldn’t expect him to plan, prepare, serve, and clean up an entire meal by himself– it would be a recipe for disaster! But, I can involve him in and teach him step by step. I can have him set the table, get ingredients out, or have him unload the dishwasher. Those are all skills he is capable of and can safely do. Learning a little here and a little there paves the way for bigger tasks later.

Teachers have a similar role with their students. We start at the bottom and work our way up. No one would expect a kindergartner to solve a three digit multiplication problem, nor would you expect a fifth grader to solve a complex equation designed for a high school senior. Doing so would just lead to frustration on all sides. Similarly, one wouldn’t expect a first grader to be able to write a detailed multi-paragraph research paper with properly cited sources, simply because they lack the necessary skills to do so. 

Providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to successfully move forward is a crucial part of being a teacher. In order for teachers to know where to start, they need to know where their students are. This is why assessments are so important in the classroom. Teachers don’t have to give a big, formal test to see where their students are, though those do have their place. Informal assessments that are done along the way can be absolutely crucial to how a teacher moves forward with what they are teaching. 

As teachers gather formal and informal data, they are able to pivot and make any needed changes to how or what they are teaching so that they are able to help students succeed. It’s similar to when you are driving a car. Your mind is constantly making observations about surroundings, then telling you to make any needed corrections to keep your car where it needs to be. Paying attention early on and throughout the process can save you from going the totally wrong direction or worse, crashing.

It’s also important that we help students see why we are teaching the things that we are teaching. Like my son not fully seeing why I was asking him to clean up his room and do his chore, students also often miss the why behind what they are being taught. As we teach them and guide them into new material, we can remind them of what they’ve already learned that will make this new content more accessible, and we can also help them see that what they are going to learn will help them in the future as they build upon their knowledge.

Teaching can be overwhelming at times, sure. But so can learning, and it’s important that we keep that in mind as we prepare lessons and teach our students. We must meet them where they are, sometimes even back tracking a little if needed, to make the progress that we know they can make. When we do this, magic happens, and things begin to click in students’ minds. And that, my friends, is when the real progress is made.

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Cooking With Kids– Chaos or Learning Opportunity?

Cooking with kids— you either love it or you don’t. The spilled ingredients, eggshells in the bowl, and general chaos in the kitchen mixed with family bonding time and making memories can make for a grand adventure. Memorable, yes. Potentially stressful, also yes. But mixed in with all the heartwarming memory making and chaos, there are teaching and learning opportunities a plenty. 

How can cooking with kids provide learning moments, you might ask? Well, first, there’s math involved with all the measuring, and if you are sizing up or down a recipe, there’s the math needed to recalculate how much of each ingredient you will need. This is when you’ll need to pull up the “fractions” file that’s been stored in your mind since 8th grade algebra— you know, the one you didn’t think you’d have to use much? Cooking and baking provide ample opportunities to dust off your fraction knowledge and put it to work!

Second, cooking and baking can teach real life, hard skills. Everyone is going to need to know how to cook and bake at some point in their lives, so why not start as a child? Keeping tasks within your child’s capabilities and keeping things age appropriate is always a good idea to keep the experience safe for everyone. I’ll be forever thankful for parents who let me help in the kitchen from a young age. Now as a mom with my own children, I can do the same for my kids in hopes that they will have at least a fundamental understanding of basic cooking skills by the time they are living on their own. 

As kids get older, they also become able to read and follow a recipe. This skill can transfer over to many other areas, as a recipe is basically an “instruction manual” of sorts. Learning how to read and follow step by step instructions will help them as they grow up and become adults. They will learn the importance of following the order of instructions to achieve a desired result. 

Cooking and baking also open the door for discussions of what to do if something doesn’t go as planned. Was the gravy too runny or too lumpy? Talk about why and what can cause those problems to happen. Were your cookies flat as a pancake and crispy rather than soft and fluffy? Together, research and talk about the circumstances that might create flat cookies. Beyond that, it becomes an excellent problem solving opportunity as you work together to figure out how to solve the issue and create the desired result. 

Lastly, but certainly not least, cooking and baking together provides parents and children opportunities to bond by working together and making memories together. This helps create a sense of love and support that gives children confidence. Children also feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as they see (and taste!) the result of their hard work. This confidence and sense of pride can carry over into other areas of their life, such as school, sports, music, and even social interactions. 

So while baking and cooking together might not seem like an opportunity filled with moments of learning, it really is. This helps to confirm what I already believe to be true— there are opportunities for learning and growth in everything we do, no matter how mundane and simple the task. Learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom; it happens all around us, often in the most unexpected places.

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Veterans Day Remembrance

Today is Veterans Day in the United States. It’s a day we pause to honor and pay tribute to the brave men and women who have so diligently served our country and sacrificed so much for the citizens of our nation. Because I have family members who have served in the military, and a husband who works with veterans suffering from service connected disabilities, I understand the levity of this day, and have always done my best to think about and honor military members, past and present. 

We can do our part to honor service members by talking about them, their bravery, and their service. Were it not for our brave service men and women, we would not be able to enjoy the freedoms we enjoy. Our lives would be much different than they are. In order to ensure that our military continues to receive the honor and thanks they deserve, we must teach our children and our students to respect and honor this day. 

This can look like many different things, but all are appreciated by those being honored. Some ideas include:

  • Writing thank you letters to soldiers who are currently deployed
  • Writing thank you letters to veterans who are no longer actively serving
  • Create a video montage with students expressing their gratitude
  • Visiting with retired veterans and listening to their stories
  • Schools can hold an assembly to show pictures of, share memories of, and even hear from service members
  • Talking to our students about the profound impact that members of our military have made

Every year, I would have my students take some time to make a card or write a letter that would be sent to a soldier currently deployed. It always amazed me how much thought they would put into the words they wrote. There were even a few years we got some letters back, and it made the students so happy! There are many organizations who will collect letters and send them for you— a simple Google search will usually guide you in the right direction.

Not every student fully understood the magnitude of what soldiers do for us. Others, however, did, as they had a parent actively serving in the military. But regardless of their depth of understanding, they did know that soldier are important and that they ought to be honored and remembered, and that’s a lesson I hope they have carried with them as they have grown into adulthood. 

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Bullying is Never the Answer

If you’ve been in the classroom for any length of time, you have likely witnessed first hand just how mean and destructive bullies can be. It’s a problem that seems to have existed for as long as humans have been around, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. In fact, it’s becoming more prominent with social media being so accessible. Students need to understand  that bullying is never ok and is never the answer. The repercussions of being the target of a bully are long lasting and can be quite detrimental to a person’s health, confidence, and self image. 

As teachers, it is crucial that if we see something, we say something, and that we teach our students to do the same. We need to teach our students what bullying is, what it can look like, how it feels to be the victim, and how to address it when/if we see it happening. I found a few picture books that did a great job of teaching these concepts— take a look!

Giraffe is Left Out written by Sue Craves, illustrated by Trevor Dunton

Giraffe, Little Lion, and Monkey are all friends. When Leopard moves into their class, Giraffe is not excited. He does not want to let Leopard join their friend group, and purposely excludes Leopard from any and all activities. Leopard is sad and feels left out. When it comes time to pass out invitations to his birthday party, Leopard gives one to everyone else, but doesn’t give one to Giraffe. Now Giraffe is the one who feels left out. Soon, he begins to understand just how mean it is to leave people out, and he learns that Leopard is actually a really good friend. Giraffe mends his ways and becomes a friend to Leopard in the end.

I liked how this book showed that excluding people is a form of bullying, and that it can be hurtful to others.

Billy Bully by Alvaro & Ana Galan, illustrated by Steve Simpson

When Billy Bully comes to the playground to play with the other kids, he takes over and makes the fun go away. He takes toys, cuts in line, pushes, breaks others’ things, tricks people, and won’t take turns. No one wants to play with him. With every mean thing he does, another kid leaves the playground. Soon, he is left with no one to play with, and he starts to realize that the things he was doing weren’t nice. One by one, he goes to his friends and apologizes and makes up for the things he had done. Soon, all the kids have come back to play together.

The illustrations in this book are so cute, and the story is easy to follow. There is also a counting element as Bully’s friends leave and come back one by one. I loved how it depicted several ways that someone can be a bully to help kids understand that bullying can take on many forms.

Eddie the Bully written and illustrated by Henry Cole

Eddie is mean, mean, mean. He says unkind things about his friends, teases them, ruins their art projects, and more. No one likes to play with him. He’s always picked last for teams, left out of the fun, and ignored. When Carla, a new girl, moves into their class, she is assigned to sit right next to Eddie. Everyone expects Eddie to say and do mean things to her, but before he has the chance, Carla compliments Eddie on his sweater and tells him that everyone must want to be his friend! Eddie is unsure what to say to this, because he knows that it isn’t true. Carla asks Eddie to help her make new friends, and Eddie agrees. He quickly learns that it feels good to be nice, so he changes his ways and starts over, this time, being a friend to everyone.

Similar to Billy Bully, this story shows different ways that bullying can happen, helping kids to understand that bullying isn’t just one thing.

Bullies Never Win by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Arthur Howard

Jessica is a first grader who worries about a lot of things, one of which is Brenda, a girl at school who likes to bully and be mean. Brenda finds a way to make fun of everything Jessica does, so Jessica slowly stops doing all the things she loves to do. Jessica finally has had enough and breaks down crying to her mom. Her mom suggests that she stand up for herself or tell their teacher. Jessica is worried about what she will do or say to Brenda to make her stop being a bully. The next day at lunch, Brenda continues to tease and say mean things. Jessica has had enough, and stands up and tells Brenda that, “… bullies never win!” Brenda is embarrassed and doesn’t say anything else to Jessica. That night, Jessica feels proud of herself for standing up to Brenda.

I loved how this story showed how to stand up to a bully. It was an empowering story!

Bully written and illustrated by Jennifer Sattler

Bully is a bull frog, and he wants all the lily pads on the pond all for himself. He won’t let any other pond friends eat them, smell them, or look at them. Soon, he has chased everyone away and is all alone. There is only one flower left, and he wants it just for himself, so he sits on it to protect it. A bee comes up to him and tries to save the flower by reminding Bully that he’s sitting on it. Bully is mean and asks the bee what he’s going to do about it. The bee has an idea, and buzzes away to gather his friends. Together they reclaim the pond and chase Bully away. The lilies begin to grow again, and the pond is back to its thriving self. Bully moves to a new pond, but is sad to see that it’s just a pond of mud, and he is all alone. Still, all he cares about is that the pond is all his.

This story showed that it can be powerful to stand up to a bully as a group— strength in numbers. 

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Bullying is never the answer, and students need to know that. These books do a great job of teaching that and showing that bullying can take on many forms. Bullying is a problem that many kids will face, either directly or indirectly, and it’s important that students be equipped with the tools they need to stand up to bullies and speak up when they see it happening. We may not be able to completely eradicate bullying from our schools, but we can certainly make a difference by teaching our students to respect and watch out for one another.

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Plagiarism: A Problem in Today’s Classroom

If you’ve been a teacher long enough, and especially if you teach or have taught upper elementary or secondary students, you’ve likely had to deal with plagiarism in your classroom. If you haven’t, count yourself lucky! It’s a growing problem, especially in today’s world, where AI and other digital outlets are making it too easy to plagiarize, cheat, or put minimal effort into assignments. It’s really quite disheartening to see.

Plagiarism is, by definition, the act of using someone else’s work as your own without giving credit to the original author. There are many ways that a person can plagiarize, each just as dishonest and academically unethical as the next. 

First, someone can use the entirety of another person’s work as their own. Essentially, the “new” author changes the by-line by substituting their own name, thus claiming the entire piece as their own work. Nothing else is changed, and the work is copied word-for-word.

Second, plagiarism can happen when someone takes pieces of someone else’s work and puts them into their own writing. This can often be referred to as “patchwork plagiarism”, as the “new” author pieces their paper together using patches and pieces of one or more already written pieces. This can even occur when a student attempts to paraphrase someone’s work, and maintains the same structure and only changes a couple of words.

Third, a student can plagiarize by pulling a sentence here and a sentence there from someone else’s work and not citing where the thought came from. This is likely the most common form of plagiarism, as students often don’t see a problem with “borrowing” a sentence or two every now and then in their own work. It is, however, academically dishonest, and is most definitely a form of plagiarism. 

As a teacher, how do you combat this ever-increasing problem in today’s classrooms? One of the easiest ways to prevent it from happening is to teach students how to properly cite their sources. Because it is now easier than ever to copy and paste someone else’s work into their own, students absolutely must have a foundational knowledge of what plagiarism is, what it can look like, and what the consequences are for engaging in it. It’s also important to note that this sort of instruction is not the sole responsibility of the English/Language Arts teachers. Sure, they are likely the ones who encounter this problem the most, but they certainly aren’t the only ones who do. Anytime you are assigning students to write anything— research papers, narratives, poetry, and so on, you must initially define what plagiarism is and clearly set up your expectations and the consequences for failing to abide by those expectations. I found it very helpful to have a note about plagiarism on the actual assignment paper that I handed out. 

Before turning students loose to write their papers, make sure they have an understanding of how to properly cite the sources they use in their writing. Be sure to have resources readily available for their reference should they have questions about proper citation formats. Read through their rough drafts to check for any potential problems or plagiarism so that it can be fixed before the final draft is due. 

Should you discover that a student has plagiarized, be sure to follow through on the consequences you set at the beginning of the assignment. I remember assigning my 8th grade accelerated class to write their own book of poetry, with each poem following a specific structure or rhyme scheme. I outlined each kind of poem on the instruction sheet, and made sure to include a note at the bottom that all work was to be 100% their own, and that failure to do so would result in a “0” grade for the entire project. As I was reading through poems, I came to one student’s assignment, and came across a poem that sounded a little too advanced for 8th grade (even for an accelerated class). A quick Google search produced a whole list of sites containing the poem that had been submitted by this student. The poem matched, word for word. My heart sunk, as I knew that I would have to follow through with my previously set consequence. This student was a straight-A student, who had never cheated, and had always turned in quality, original work. That same night was Parent-Teacher Conferences, and let me tell you— it was not an easy conversation to have with the student and her father. She was devastated and claimed she had misunderstood that all work had to be original, but because I had taken the time to write very specific instructions on the assignment sheet, I had proof that my instructions were clear. It was a hard lesson for her to learn, and that “0” grade decently impacted her final grade for the term. Even though it was a hard thing for me to follow through with, I knew I had to, because I knew that if she had gotten away with it, she wouldn’t have learned the lesson, and I would have hated for her to learn that lesson in college or a high school course where the consequence would have been much more serious. 

Plagiarism is one of those things that is hard to deal with as a teacher. It is a form of cheating, and should not be tolerated. Students should know what it is, how to avoid it, and what the consequences are for engaging in it. Like I said previously, it’s better for students to learn about this kind of thing earlier, rather than when the consequences for dishonesty are much more severe. 

So now I want to know— how have you handled it when you have come across plagiarism in your classroom? 

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Kindness Matters

We had Parent-Teacher Conferences for my kids last night, and I was so excited to go. I love hearing updates from teachers, and my kids love to show me where their desk is, their cubby, and take me to see their work that is hanging in the hall. With five kids all at the same school, those nights can get pretty long, but they are worth it.

I enjoy hearing how they are doing academically; it’s fun to see beginning of year test scores compared to present scores— there is almost always improvement. It’s encouraging to see the forward leaps they make as they learn. I also really enjoy hearing how my children can improve. If there is an area (or multiple) that need attention, I like to know so that I can give my full support to my child as well as to their teacher. 

Though I do enjoy hearing about the academic progress that is being made, I love it even more when I get a report from a teacher telling me that my child is helpful, kind, friendly, and respectful to everyone, adults and kids alike. Knowing that my child is being a good human means so much to me. We try so hard at home to teach our children to be kind, to include, and to respect others. We do our best to teach them good manners and what a good friend looks like. When I send them to school each morning, I just hope that what they have been taught sticks with them, and it is so reassuring to hear that they indeed did hear us and remembered! 

I think so often parents worry about their children getting good grades, especially in upper grades. There seems to be so much pressure on kids today to be the best in their class, get the highest score on the test, or that any grade below a B is unacceptable. Obviously, parents aren’t out there wanting their kids to fail, but I think there could be more flexibility when it comes to expectations. That’s not to say for parents to just let go and stop encouraging their kids, because there is definitely value in pushing your kids to do and be their best. But when it becomes all about grades, I think we’ve missed the mark. 

I was always a good student, and my grades were usually pretty good. But I can tell you that not a single person in my adult life has cared what grade I got in my high school math class. No one has asked if I scored 100% on the AP US History test I took as a junior. It simply doesn’t matter anymore. But what does matter is that I am a kind person, who includes others, is friendly, and listens to people. 

When it comes down to it, the way we treat others says a whole lot more about who we are as people than the grades we pulled in school. Sure, good grades can indicate that someone is a hard, determined worker, and good grades can get you into a college where you can earn a degree and work toward making a career for yourself. Having a job allows you to have money to pay your bills and put food on the table. But it’s important to remember that being kind is good, too. 

So as your children (and your students) grow and learn, be sure to teach them more than just academics; teach them to be kind, patient, respectful, and inclusive. Because one day, it’s the way they are that will truly take them places in this life. 

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May We Never Forget

Where were you on that fateful day
In September 2001?
Were you busy at work or learning at school
Or had your day just barely begun?

Did you watch it unfold
As it aired on TV?
Was your heart uncertain and scared?
Did you ask yourself, “How can this be?”

The world stood still and everyone watched;
We sat in disbelief and in shock.
How could there be such evil?
Our faith and trust they did rock.

Shaken and battered,
Afraid and unsure,
Forward we moved,
Knowing unity could cure.

People all over stepped in and stepped up.
Amidst all the sadness, the terror, and pain,
Selfless heroes helped others,
Not seeking any personal gain.

While some ran away to escape the debris,
Others ran in, one objective in mind:
To help who they could whatever the cost,
And do their best to save lives. 

As the dust settled down,
And we began to restore,
As a country we came together,
Unified and changed evermore.

As those who did witness
The events of that day,
We must never forget 
And must teach our children to do the same. 

Teach them to love, to be kind, and uplift,
Show them how to lead with kindness and grace.
Ensure that they know that hate never wins,
That love conquers all, and everyone has a place.

Teach them to care, to listen, and help.
To look out for others, to lend a hand when they’re called.
Above all else, let them never forget:
United we stand, divided we fall.

-Logan Nielsen, 2025

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As today marks 24 years since the tragic events of September 11, 2001 took place, may we all take a moment to reflect on that day and the people whose lives were forever changed because of those events. May we teach our students and our children about this day, just like our parents and teachers taught us about previous wars and history-making/changing events. Let us encourage all we come in contact with to be a little kinder, a little more gentle, and a little more helpful. May we spread kindness and love whenever we can, and may we never forget this day.