Shea Kenealy

  Twitter Me @Ms.Kenealy2010 When I was first assigned the task to create a Twitter account, follow strangers, and post about educational topics, I was quite nervous.  I was uneasy about following strangers because I am hesitant with social media and posting much about myself for all to see.  However, once I began following specific educational organizations and leaders, I started to realize that it is a great community and tool for educators to use to share information and lessons, as well as, ask for advice or guidance.  I retweeted several posts that were meaningful to me, and the writers of those posts began to follow me.  It was very quick to find many people that had similar interests and people that I would like to be connected with.  It gave me a sense of feeling connected to other educators throughout the country. I observed that as I continued to post and follow more people, that I was getting more likes and comments to my posts.  The tweet...

  As we begin the school year, teachers, leaders, and schools have a certain amount of emergency drills that need to be conducted each year.  As a teacher, one of the first things that I do when I enter a new classroom is look at safe places to hide my students in case of an emergency situation, such as a school shooting.  I look for specific furniture that I would put in front of the doors and windows to protect the students.  I look for the best place to put my keys for easy access to them to quickly lock the doors.  I am not a law enforcement professional, but it has become part of my job to make sure I protect my students to the best of my ability. The number of school shootings has continued to rise over the years.  An article written by Donna St. George (2022) from the Washington Post stated, “A Washington Post analysis showed more than 311,000 children at 331 schools experienced gun violence since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.”  ...

  How many students come through school doors at the beginning of the day and look absolutely exhausted or they tell teachers how tired they are?  Students constantly complain about how early school starts, and state they barely got any sleep the night before.  When they are asked about what time they go to bed, they usually say anytime between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am.  When asked why they are up so late, many times it is because they couldn’t fall asleep, they were on their phones, or they were watching tv.  When they arrive at school, they have a hard time staying awake or doing any work for the first few periods in their day. So could students be positively affected by a later start time for school? If schools had a later start time, then it would allow for students to sleep in more in the morning and be more productive during their school day.  Teenagers tend to stay awake later at night, which causes them to be drowsy when their alarms go off early in t...

  The title of this article very quickly made me smile because I love looping with my students.  I have had experience looping with two groups of middle school students as their science teacher and team leader.  It allowed for me to develop strong relationships with my students and also create a sense of family and community with each of them.  I didn’t teach all of the same students from the first year, but I had many of them.  It allowed for students to know the class expectations and feel safe to actively participate in class.  I believe that looping can be a great opportunity for schools to develop deeper relationships, and in particular with middle school students, it allows for them to really trust an adult as they are going through so many changes. Being a team leader allows me to develop relationships with every student in the grade level that I support, whether they are in my class or not.  Many times my first interaction with a student I don’...

  The podcast interview on The Tent with Becky Pringle, the National Education Association President highlighted some key insight into what is failing in the United States education system.  One issue the system is facing is teacher and staff shortages inside and outside of the classroom.  Another is the lowered test scores and increased achievement gap with communities among different socioeconomic classes.  The lack of resources was also discussed as to why there is a crisis in our education system.  All of these concerns were raised, but the question still remains why is this occurring, and what can we do about it?      There is a staff shortage in the education system because of a lack of respect for the professionals who teach children, drive school buses, and support students, both inside and outside the classroom.  These professionals are expected to not only fulfill the job requirements as noted on their job description, but also supp...

  Why become an educator if you are not focused on developing strong positive relationships with students?  Students thrive in classes where they feel cared for and heard.  If a teacher is only teaching content and not taking an interest in the students in their room, they are not going to take an interest in the content being presented to them. If they don’t feel safe, they are going to be less likely to participate in class and engage with the lesson.  Content is an important aspect of teaching, as we are educators who want to teach and challenge our students.  However, there needs to be a balance of positive relationships and content to motivate students, which will lead to high levels of student achievement.  Being in education for over a decade, I have challenged myself to build relationships with students in my classes who are perceived by others as “hard” or “ a lost cause”  because it is my passion to help support every student that I come acro...