How to Pass the STEDI Substitute Teacher Exam
Do you need to pass a STEDI substitute teacher exam in order to start substitute teaching in your district? Read on for tips and tricks that helped me pass the STEDI SubSkills...
Charmaine
Journalism school + editing + university newspaper 2010-2013
Education grad school + full-time teaching internship 2013-2014
Teaching elementary grades + Substitute teaching 2014-2023
Do Less: How to Throw a ’90s-style Birthday Party With Less Stress
My head is spinning with all of the overcomplicated kids birthday parties invading my Instagram feed. Between the egregious cost and time and energy commitments in order to put on these picture-perfect...
Steal My Introduction From Every Time I Substitute Teach
Over my years as a substitute teacher, I have made introductions in hundreds of new classrooms. These mysterious settings, these enigmatic four walls, these uncharted territories of scholarship serve as my blank...
Only the Best: Kids and Baby Products We Actually Value
The more kids I have, the more I've honed our list of must-haves for life with these little people. There are certain things that just make the busyness of baby days and...
Classroom Survival Kit: Engaging Brain Teasers
One of my top classroom tips for a smooth substitute teaching day includes having a set of brain breaks and other engaging time-fillers on hand. I've written about some of these low-tech...
A Balancing Act: From Teacher to Mom to YouTuber
Transitioning from a fulfilling teaching career to full-time motherhood is a journey many educators face, often accompanied by complex emotions and identity shifts. In our latest podcast episode, I spoke with a...
Life as a Postpartum Substitute Teacher: What It’s Really Like
I carried some doubts and an awkwardly packed tote bag containing my pumping equipment as I crossed the courtyard into the double doors of a school just beginning to hum to life....
So, You Want to Quit Teaching and Better Your Life?
I may be getting ahead of myself with the article title, but yes-- I assume that if you quit teaching you will pretty much automatically improve your quality of life. Your mental...
Amos Takes the Skyway: An Engaging and Informative Classroom Readaloud
Let me introduce an adventurous and ornery Amish boy named Amos to you. Amos is a fictional ten-year-old living in the Amish vacation destination of Pinecraft, Florida, and he's cooked up a...
How to Make a Simple Pencil Shirt
When it comes to teacher fashion, what do you think of? Does a wonderfully rustic, handmade pencil shirt fit into that first flurry of ideas? Perhaps there are a range of images...
How to Live in Your Pumpkin Spice Era for Cheap
For some of the us, the first whiff of pumpkin spice or even a two-degree dip in temperatures can be enough to signal a life-giving change in seasons. (It is me. I...
Substitute Teaching: Pandemic Edition
When news of the pandemic spread, its effects began to reach into every sector society, schools included. School systems were upended by sudden changes and totally new ways of doing things. Substitute...