Susan Barber @susangbarber Twitter profile

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

It’s noon and I just realized my shirt is inside out. Should I really be in charge of children??

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Any other teachers feel like crying? I'll push through, but y'all, this isn't what I signed up for. My classes are going pretty good but the workload far exceeds my capacity (and I'm a high capacity person).

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Now is not the time for rigor. Now is not the time for lengthy assignments. Now is not the time for a lot of new technology. Now is the time for small doses of meaningful work. Now is the time for access and availability to students. Now is the time for compassion.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

Standardized testing is sucking the life out of students, teachers, and schools. That’s the tweet.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

I'm not into public shaming but shame on districts who are making teachers teach both f2f and virtually (just put a camera in your room and record for students at home - what's the big deal?). These are two separate jobs. Students deserve better. Teachers deserve better.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I find it incredibly frustrating that teacher-leaders who choose to stay in the classroom instead of going into administration are not rewarded financially. This devalues teachers and is one of the aspects of education that needs to be rethought.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Here’s the thing: teachers have a way of getting it done for the kids. Here’s the other thing: districts know this to be true of teachers and often take advantage of that. At some point, the system will fail because teachers can’t sustain what is being asked of them.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

10 months

My non-teacher friends: I’m so jealous of your summer off. Me: yesterday I had a colonoscopy, today I went to the orthopedist, tomorrow I’m having my teeth cleaned.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I gave this student a copy of Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi) on Monday. She finished it today. No front loading. No skills taught. No assessment. Just good old fashioned reading. I often wonder how we got so far away from what education should be.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

So the backbone of the economy falls on schools opening yet teaching remains a low paying profession. Someone help me understand this paradox.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Districts can tell teachers to practice self care or districts can give teachers time to practice self care. There’s a huge difference.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

I have some students who want to start a banned book club where we read a banned book and discuss the controversy. Let the reading begin!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

Door Dash requires every employee all the way up to the CEO to deliver food at least once a month. What would happen if every state/district employee had to teach at least one class each month?

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 months

All lot of people are talking about the ongoing and cumulative effect of the pandemic on our students, but far less people are talking about the effect of the pandemic on educators. We need to quit pretending that hashtags and random PDs will address what teachers are feeling.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

10 months

A teacher shared that she fires back her response to unreasonable parent emails saying all the things she wants to say then puts her response in ChatGPT and has it rewrite her email in a more professional tone. This is pure genius.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Me this morning: I cannot handle one more thing The education system: Here are 10 more things for you today

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

This idea of not wanting students to read books that may be upsetting is so unsettling. We should read books that challenge us, upset us, and push us in our thinking. Once we start reading only texts we agree with or make us feel good, we are entering dangerous territory.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Mark my words: we will have a major teacher shortage soon. Older teachers will retire and young people are watching the demands on and criticism of teachers now and will not be signing up that.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

If you create a slide for each breakout room group and have students work there, you can set to grid view and see which groups need help and track their progress while on Zoom. Thanks to @HerreraKM1 for the idea.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

So yesterday I was stressed about the usual teacher things and found out this morning that we lost a student last night. One of mine. And now none of those things matter anymore. Check on your students, your colleagues, and keep check on yourself.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

I’m saying this for me and you: after finishing my first week of virtual teaching, I have so much to do and could easily work all weekend. BUT we must take care of ourselves and our families even if some parts of our jobs remain undone. Teachers are human. #stopteacherguilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

This is not the time to figure out how to make school "work" - this is the time to completely reimagine education. Our students and teachers deserve more than a triage plan to get them through the year.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

This week I asked how my students are doing. They shared teachers are pushing through curriculum at a break-neck speed to get it all in, and students are struggling. Let's slow down. We need to rethink what students really need in terms of content and what's okay to let go.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Everyone I talk to seems to be concerned about their kids falling behind in math and science, but based on how people are behaving, I think we should be concerned about us falling behind in the humanities. So teach good literature, teach history, teach art, and teach philosophy

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

Do teachers struggle more with work/life balance than other professions? If so, why?

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

What I’m in education for - teaching students. What I’m not here for - everything else.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Student: We write too much in this class. Me: Please submit all complaints about this class in writing.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

6 months

The after swell of Covid is flooding today's classrooms. Student apathy, disengagement, no social norms - not all students' fault but we've got to figure this out soon.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

What I do well: teach What I don’t do well: all of the other things teachers have to do

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

6 years

I'm all for working hard, but teachers, do yourself and your students a favor and step away from work for a large portion of the weekend. Get some rest, spend time with those you love, and feed your soul. Set good self care habits at the beginning of the year. #stopteacherguilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

I have 5 sections of the same class and feel bad for the first section who has to put up with me working out the lesson the first time.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

Before creating more programs, district and state leaders should sit in classes. Observe for days or weeks to understand the nuances of what students and teachers are being asked to do. Then plan with all stakeholders. The gap between leadership and the classroom is far too wide.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

As writing teachers, let's all agree to shift our language and say that we are "giving feedback" on writing instead of "grading writing." #TeachWriting

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

I'm thinking about the small details in the classroom that make big differences. What's one small thing you as a teacher do that yields big gains - either academically, relationally, emotionally, etc.?

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Cameras in the classroom now? 1 - who in the world will sign up for teaching? 2 - we can’t even afford Clorox wipes and expo markers (or BOOKS) - let’s fund our basic needs. Please just let me teach and quit complicating and politicizing education. It’s hard enough as is.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

5 years

Yesterday, I had 120 outlines in my bag to take home for feedback over the weekend. At the last minute, I took them out, put them on my desk, and walked out of my room. I busted my butt this week for my students and am going to enjoy the weekend with the fam. #stopteacherguilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

7 months

Continuing to speak this into the void that no one seems to be paying attention to: teachers are crumbling under unrealistic expectations. Almost 100% of learning falls to teachers with very little accountability for students. It’s a broken system. Send help.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

I teach all seniors and had to cover for a 9th grade class today and feel like I’ve just emerged from an alternate universe. Mad respect for all of the middle school and 9th grade teachers!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

DO NOT - I repeat - DO NOT overcomplicate online learning or give your students lots of busy work now. This is not the time for that; instead, provide small doses of meaningful work that keep minds fresh and engaged. This message is brought to you by me and @CarolJago :)

Carol Jago

@CarolJago

4 years

Let’s be careful not to add to parents’ stress with new online curricular demands. (P.S. Teachers have children at home, too.)

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

Just throwing this out there for all of the teachers who are staring at a stack of papers: You don't have to grade everything. Give targeted feedback instead of acting as a copy editor. Focus on one or two aspects per assignment. Provide students opportunities to self-assess.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

Need a poem for graduation? "Meteor Shower" by @ClintSmithIII is so perfect! #TeachLivingPoets

Clint Smith

@ClintSmithIII

8 years

Got a new poem, "Meteor Shower," in @DiverseArtsProj .

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

8 months

My day has been made ❤️

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

If I hear one more person say, "so what are you going to be doing since y'all aren't going back to school?" Here's what I'll be doing - working my butt off because I know that putting a worksheet on Google classroom and hoping for the best is not teaching.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

Some of my favorite two sentence horror stories from today #teachwriting

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

6 years

I'm so tired of hearing teachers brag about how much work they give their students; rigor does not mean more work. I would even love to replace the term rigorous and for meaningful; students learn by doing meaningful work.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I have aged a decade this past school year.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

What’s on your plate??? Helping my seniors think through and manage their last semester of high school.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

This is almost a part-time job

Ms. Mia Parviainen

@MsPWHS

4 years

Shoutout to all the high school teachers (esp. English and history) who are writing letters of recommendations for seniors, and helping them with college essays.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Grading writing and giving feedback on writing are two different things. Thanks for attending my TED talk.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Making bookmarks for my seniors today. It’s an enexpensive to individually honor them and also gives me some closure. Thanks @SarahBWessling for the idea!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I'm not really a call out person but for all of the English teachers who are only correcting spelling, commas, and MLA format errors and think they are teaching writing, you are mistaken. 1/1

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

PSA: it’s way too early for posts about how to have a good start to the 2021-22 school year. We’re still recovering from this past year.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

We found out three weeks ago that we could have a prom and a dedicated group of teachers pulled off an amazing event. Here’s some Sunday #truth : Teachers make magic happen at the last minute for almost no money. Imagine what we could with resources and public support.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

The closer I get to the end of the year, the more tired I realize I am. It's going to take a minute to recover from this year.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

End of the semester reminder: you don’t have to grade everything.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Take care of yourselves without apology. Being a teacher martyr benefits no one. For me this means: not reworking lessons, not grading everything, using pre-made hyperdocs from friends, sometimes we just read and talk. This is all OKAY! #MondayMotivation #StopTeacherGuilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

The worth of a teacher should not be measured by the amount of work we do at night or on the weekend. If you need to work a little extra to ease the load during the week, do that, but it's time to stop glorifying the teacher-martyr role. Enjoy the weekend. #StopTeacherGuilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 months

What even is school anymore?? We’ve made things waaayy more complicated than they should be

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

My students had 5 choices for an end of the year activity. One was a college admission essay blackout or whiteout. Love the final products!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

5 months

Today is our school late work deadline. Students can turn in work from sept 25th. Exams start tomorrow., and I have zero time (or capacity due to the overwhelming amount of work coming in) to give feedback. School has never felt so transactionary.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

For all of the people who are protesting outside of schools about anti-masking, please feel free to broaden your circle and speak up for other issues in education such as equity gaps, standardized testing, teacher pay, etc. Thanks for attending my TED talk.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Today’s reading - I already know I will be making a push for this to be added to our curriculum @JasonReynolds83 @DrIbram

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

5 years

listening to my corporate friends discuss holiday bonuses has me torn between laughing or crying because I'm just hoping for an extra jeans pass this month #teacherlife

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I planned on doing a reflective blog post about teaching in 2020 (and still may) but as of today, I'm too 2020 tired to write this post. So here's my reflection of teaching in 2020: I survived. If you're reading this, you survived also. Cheers to all of us! Happy New Year!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

I was grading papers on a flight today and the flight attendant brought me a “teacher goody bag” to help. This take “fly the friendly skies” to a whole new level! 😂

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

My district: you should dress like you’re going to work everyday and not include pets or anything distracting in the background when on Zoom Me:

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

A major goal for me is to foster a love for literature in my students which requires space in class for choice reading and reading for pleasure. The far majority of my students will not be English majors, but I hope they will be life long readers. #MondayMotivation

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

I teach banned books #bookstagram

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Thinking about how to use these for a first day activity . . .

50 Beautiful Sentences from Young Adult Books

Beautiful YA sentences are everywhere. Here are just 50 favorites.

bookriot.com

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

6 years

@AP_Trevor Scores are scores but is the negative language that follow these scores necessary? As a teacher who has worked tirelessly and watched my students work tirelessly for a year, this communicates failure when I am in fact proud of my and my students work.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

“The Yellow Wallpaper” analysis 👏👏👏

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

6 months

Same for me. Until this year I have been a proponent of teaching responsible phone use in the classroom but am now in favor of banning phones in schools. Research now shows the harmful effects that go far beyond not engaging in instruction.

Dr. Matt Rhoads

@MattRhoads1990

6 months

5 years ago I was against phone bans in K-12. Fast forward to 2023, I am for every single K-12 school to ban phones.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 months

Today two students were in my room making up work and were speaking highly about a fellow teacher. I asked what made him a great teacher and they went on and on about all the things he does to make his classroom welcoming and build confidence. This made me so happy and hopeful ❤️

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

Love this guide at @smithsoniannpg to help “read” portraits/paintings. This is a great tool for the classroom when using art in lessons.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Prepping for tomorrow. Here's what my students will be working on over break.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

"A teacher, Baldwin believed, should push students to understand that the world was molded by people who came before, and that it can be remolded into something new." @ClintSmithIII #MondayMotivation

James Baldwin’s Lesson for Teachers in a Time of Turmoil

Rigorous lessons are not mutually exclusive from culturally and politically relevant ones.

www.newyorker.com

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

5 years

And so it begins . . . But I refuse to give my entire weekend to grading and I refuse to feel guilty about work I just can’t get to. I love my job. I take my job seriously. I do right by my students. But I have a life outside of school, and I plan on living it. #stopteacherguilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I hate grades - the idea of quantifying learning is icky. I want to push students forward in their thinking by reading and discussing rich texts and offer suggestions on writing in a way that moves them forward and not talk about grades. Thanks for attending my TED Talk

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

10 months

I keep stressing as I work with teachers this summer that rigor is not measured by the amount of texts or work we assign but rather what we're asking students to do with the texts.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Shout out to all of the teachers who busted their butts last spring to keep schools up and running and have spent most of the summer prepping for whatever this fall holds. Your work is valued.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

4 years

Now that we have witnessed it on a large scale basis, and firsthand, Virtual Learning has proven to be TERRIBLE compared to In School, or On Campus, Learning. Not even close! Schools must be open in the Fall. If not open, why would the Federal Government give Funding? It won’t!!!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

5 months

Exactly!! This is why the whole bell to bell teaching push drives me nuts. You finish class 5 or 10 min early? Let students catch their breath and talk to friends. It’s okay - actually necessary and needed.

Nicholas Emmanuele

@NAEmmanuele

5 months

At #NCTE23 & #CEL23 , I had 5.5 days of nonstop learning followed by informal social debriefings, extensions, and conversations. I took notes but still have so much to process. We have Ss in school in back-to-back classes. Do we provide time to sit, think, talk, & profess?

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

1 year

Here's what my students will be doing while I'm at #NCTE2022 . Low stakes extension activities centered on short stories. #aplitchat

Short Story Choice Board

Short Story Choice Board: Choose one and either complete or respond to in your writer’s notebook by the end of class. Choose a character from a short story we’ve read this year and create a playlist...

docs.google.com

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

Some people think teachers should be allowed to carry a gun at school at the same time that teachers are not trusted to choose what books to teach.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

My thoughts on "laying down the rules" for students. (I teach all seniors for context). On day one jump straight in the work. Deal with procedures as they naturally come up. Thanks for attending my TED Talk.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

I often tell people who want to be teachers or criticize teachers, "Come to my class and see how difficult yet rewarding this is." I should also add: "and come sit with me each weekend when I'm giving feedback on work and planning because there's no time for this during the week"

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

This year’s school pic

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Nine weeks into school and I’m putting in place systems so work doesn’t consume me. 1 - I will only do heavy school work one weekend a month because working every weekend is just not good for me or my students. This is not that weekend. #StopTeacherGuilt

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 months

“Banning phones in school would be a bold and novel experiment. It might not work. But the fallacy is believing that doing nothing is the harmless status quo.”

It Sure Looks Like Phones Are Making Students Dumber

Test scores have been falling for years—even before the pandemic.

www.theatlantic.com

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

I’m already over the learning loss conversation and recovery plans. We do not need to return to “normal” because pre-pandemic education had serious cracks and flaws. Let’s instead reimagine, redesign, and rethink school. Oh - and consult teachers in this process.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

What I’ve heard a lot of people talk about this week: getting the right books in the hands of students, engaging students in the learning process, and teaching writing as opposed to assigning and grading writing. What I’ve heard no talk of this week: collecting data. #NCTE19

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Yesterday was #WorldMentalHeathDay . As teachers, we are not doing ourselves or our profession any good if we continue to pretend like we're doing okay if we're not. Work reasonable hours. Accept personal limits. Prioritize self-care. Take time if you need time. #MondayMotivation

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

Today, my students spent time exploring some poems individually. We've been hitting it hard, and I just wanted to let them enjoy poetry. So no annotations, no analyzing, no writing response - just read. And it was beautiful. Sometimes we need to let literature just be literature.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Students signed in to class today by dropping a gif in the group chat and connecting it to frankenstein. I honestly could just spend the entire class looking at gifs

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

To all of the congressmen and women who hid crouched under desks or chairs yesterday, imagine having children who you’re responsible for and you’re reassuring while you’re afraid - that’s what teachers do. Let’s pass some gun laws now.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

2 years

To all of the educators who are retiring or choosing to leave the profession, thank you for all you’ve done for students and society in general!!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Shout out to all of the teachers who make plans then change them the day before. I make my life way more complicated than it should be.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

5 years

Teaching writing and assigning writing are completely different. We need more teachers to engage in the messy work of teaching students how to write and break out of the cycle of assign an essay, mark it up, return to student, and assign another paper. Stop this nonsense!

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

4 years

A non-teacher friend asked what I was doing with my extra time since our virtual classes are 15 minutes shorter

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

10 months

The question I hear all of the time when I talk about choice/independent reading: How do you know if the students are really reading? The question I ask in return: How do you know if the students are really reading the whole class novel?

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Our district is starting asynchronous Wednesdays today after begin synchronous five days a week, all day since we started school in August. My students are so relieved to spend some time working without being bound to a screen and a schedule.

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Susan Barber

@susangbarber

3 years

Here's my lesson for Tuesday built around inaugural poems and an introduction to @TheAmandaGorman , this year's Inaugural Poet. Use what you can! #aplitchat #TeachLivingPoets #aplangchat @ncte 21 in 21, Day 17: Inaugural Poetry

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