Elisa Waingort
-
Alberta Teacher Strike Musings
Teachers in Alberta were on strike for 22 days. Then, we were ordered back to work and stripped of our rights to association and negotiation. The MAGA adjacent provincial government decided to invoke a rarely used clause in the Canadian Constitution called the notwithstanding clause. It allows provinces and the federal government to curtail constitutional Read more
-
Welcome to Grade 2!
My first year of teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area I taught grade 1. The following year I had a grade 1/2 combination class. When I moved to New Orleans I started to move away from early childhood into the upper elementary grades and middle school. Although I returned to the early years classroom Read more
-
Interventionist – Year #2…NOT!
Image Source: AI Generated Note: Yesterday I found out I needed to return to the classroom! We go back to work tomorrow! Yikes! I had originally drafted this post before I knew about this change. So, instead of writing a whole new one, I decided to leave it as is and update what I’d written Read more
-
Where did the summer go?
This was supposed to be a fairly quiet summer. But then things happened. My husband and I had to take an impromptu trip to Ecuador at the beginning of July. Two days after we got back, I had a sinus operation and couldn’t fly for a month. In the middle of my recuperation, my eldest Read more
-
Children Need Choice
Source: Freepik Giving choice in the classroom gives students opportunities to learn to make decisions, even if it’s about what tools to use when they are working on a math problem. Making a wrong choice in a safe space, like the classroom, allows for risk-taking, which is a critical component to making good choices and Read more
-
Today’s Rant
I wish I could shout this from the rooftops: Kids will learn to read (and write) if they have a knowledgeable teacher who reads (and writes) for pleasure; is familiar with appropriate age and grade level books for their students; knows their students well enough to bring books into the classroom that they will enjoy; Read more
-
The Power of “No”
How often do you say “no” to things that could interfere with your goals? Unfortunately, I don’t do it as often as I should because I worry that if I don’t “join” or “subscribe”, I will miss out on the opportunity to achieve something or even learn something amazing. As if I were waiting for Read more
-
A Teacher’s Lament
If I were in charge of the world, which I’m not, I would earmark public money for public schools only. I would make sure teachers had one day every month for planning with their grade level partners. Report cards would happen at the end of the year. Patent-Teacher conferences would happen four times a year. Read more
-
Summer 2025
AI Generatd – (I asked for a beach scene in Cuba. Maybe?) This is the first summer in about three years that my husband and my children, including their spouses and our grandchildren, are not going on a vacation together. During the last few summers, we’ve gone to Europe and loved every minute of it! Read more
Elisa Waingort 