This is a daily struggle in K-5. After creating a safe learning environment, whatever stamina I help build for my students seems to erode away once they go home and spend all night playing video games or on social media. #TeacherSky

Something I’ve noticed and that @johannawinant.bsky.social gets absolutely right: teaching students to focus long enough to build (on) an idea is a gift. It’s no longer standard, at least not in K-12. It requires safety and stamina, both of which are in danger in classrooms across the world.

Full conversation with some other answers here, along with a prediction of what THE lesson of this school might be when we look back on it?

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Thanks for giving me space to reflect on my school year so far. I really appreciate your attentive ear, allowing me to verbally process what I’m experiencing in the classroom, how I can move through the struggles, and especially, what this year is teaching me.

A4. I’m envious that my wife took a class in high school entirely dedicated to Shakespeare. I think Shakespeare shouldn’t be reserved only for upper classes (gr. 11-12) or advanced classes (AP lit). I wish I had had more exposure to Shakespeare in high school. #SundayMacbethChat

A3. It’s always challenging to first introduce fifth-graders to Shakespeare. The language is challenging. They usually have no background knowledge, & so getting them excited about starting a play is hard. The initial reaction is that Shakespeare is just another text. #MacbethSundayChat

Q2. Years ago, when I taught Shakespeare regularly, I coordinated a field trip to the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. I organized with parents & met about 12 of my students (& their families) at the festival to see Twelfth Night performed on stage. #SundayMacbethChat

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A1. There are so many that I love, but I keep coming back to this line from Hamlet.

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.”

Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 193–206

It encapsulates many of my days in the classroom teaching fifth-graders!

#SundayMacbethChat

There's no responsiveness because it's clear the purpose isn't to teach kids, it's to "get through" the curriculum.

There's never a charge to maintain fidelity to children, there is only fidelity to the curriculum.

My Kindergarten child’s elementary school principal told us at a parent event that this is the first year they haven’t given kinder kids Chromebooks and the plan is to hold out as long as they can to begin phasing out early elem Chromebook use.

I couldn’t be more grateful.