A few weeks ago I was eating lunch with a few of my former students and one of them asked me if I had watched “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix. I had seen a description of the first episode (“As the school mourns the death of Hannah Baker, her friend Clay receives a box of tapes with messages she recorded before she committed suicide”) and I just wasn’t intrigued. The idea of watching a show with such a depressing premise didn’t seem worthy of my time. However, this student highly suggested it and I almost felt compelled to watch it between her urging and my knowing of students who have battled with depression. The show’s social commentary on underage drinking, sexual assault, bullying, suicide, and access to guns is particularly intriguing in the sense that it ties these themes together to show how teenagers struggle to cope with their surroundings. While it wasn’t a shock to me that Hannah committed suicide (since that was in the plot from the begin...
As 2016 comes to a close, I reflect on how this school year has been both challenging and rewarding. Moving to a brand new content area encouraged me to grow in ways that I didn’t realize were possible. Learning the curriculum, working with a new professional learning team, and teaching kids one year older not only refreshed me but gave me much needed insight as I prepared for my instructional facilitator role. Since becoming an instructional facilitator, I have been able to work with a plethora of teachers in the building. From working with 7th and 8th grade teachers as they designed and implemented video projects to even working with math teachers on integrating the 4 C’s (creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration) into their lessons, it has been an honor to be a part of great instruction on campus. Because of the many transitions that I have been experiencing this school year, I’ve neglected some of the things th...