Jackie Rhymes

ALT “Share the good stuff. Reach out to parents to tell them their kid was kind. Or nailed a new skill. Or is generally just awesome. One day you might have to reach out about something not as sunny, and having that relationship built goes a long way.” —Leticia Y, Educator

ALT “Hard conversations don’t have to be mean conversations. They don’t have to take on a detached or authoritarian tone. Holding people to their greatness is perhaps one of the most loving actions we can take. Real accountability isn’t a ‘gotcha.’ It’s an ‘I see you.’” —Amy Fast, Principal

ALT Handwritten chart titled "It's T.G.I.F. Time!" It has 4 questions, each with a bunch of sticky notes with answers underneath. The questions are: "What did you TRY this week?" "What are you GRATEFUL for?" "What INSPIRED you this week?" and "What was FUN this week?"

ALT “The joys of teaching can be tiny. When that student—yes, that one—finally hazards to raise their hand. When a struggling student shows an unexpected burst of insight or connection. Sometimes it’s just a look on their face—you can see that, yes, this student is focused, at least in this moment. They are trying.” —Susan Yergler, Teacher

ALT 2-Minute Read. Classroom Management. 34 Ways to Quiet a Rambunctious Class, by Daniel Leonard. Crayon-style illustration of children moving in the background, with a silhouette of an adult holding up a "shush" finger in the foreground.

ALT “You can walk in 5 different classrooms and see 5 different teachers connecting with students in 5 different ways. Every teacher has their own talents and strengths, which make them amazing. They don’t need one size fits all professional development or evaluations to be amazing.” —Brad Johnson, Educator

ALT “Being bilingual isn’t a barrier. Having an accent isn’t a challenge. Thinking in a different language first isn’t a complication. Bilingualism is an asset, not a deficit.” —Andréa Rodriguez, Educator

ALT “Years ago, a conversation with a quieter student convinced me to change ‘class participation’ to ‘class engagement.’ It should not be a contest to see who speaks the most. Assess involvement in learning no matter how it looks in each student.” —Amy P.

ALT “My 5-year-old explained to me that it's okay when she makes a mistake because she’s growing the neurons in her brain. I just want to hug her teacher.” —Erin Brisbin, Teacher

ALT “As educators, the more we know about who we teach, the more effective we will be with what we teach. Taking time to get to know our students isn’t fluff time, it’s academic time.” —Dr. Justin Tarte