2026-07-19
Easing Back: Summer's End, School's Start
It happens every year, like clockwork. The collective sigh of relief as June winds down, and then… that creeping unease in late August. It's not just the par...
Tony Marino
3rd/4th grade teacher, West Philly. Fishtown by way of Havertown. I write about what happens in room 214 — what kids reveal, what it means, what I've learned from watching people figure things out. Sometimes about the city. Sometimes dinner.
2026-07-16
The Slow Fade of Childhood Reading
It’s a slow thing, this fading. Not like a lightbulb burning out with a pop and a fizzle, but more like watching grass turn brown in late summer—a gradual sh...
2026-07-16
Rediscovering Wonder Nature's Lessons Beyond the Screen
The kids miss the woods, you know? I can see it in their faces when we’re finally back in room 214 after a long stretch of staring at screens. That eagerness...
2026-07-16
Unlocking a Love of Reading: Let Them Read
What’s a kid supposed to read? I get asked that a lot, especially now that it's almost back-to-school time and parents are starting to think about all those ...
2026-07-15
The Lost Art of Handwriting and Understanding
Sometimes, I think about all the stuff we used to do before screens took over everything. Not that I’m against them – my students are practically born with t...
2026-07-15
Rewriting How We See The World
Sometimes I watch my second graders try to draw a dinosaur. Not a T. Rex they’ve seen a hundred times, but something new – a Baryonyx, maybe, or a Therizinos...
2026-07-14
Summer’s Spark: Rekindling Curiosity and Play
Alright, so I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately—watching my cousins' kids and even remembering being that age myself. That feeling of freedom in the s...
2026-07-14
Back to School Feelings Patience and Preparation
September’s coming up quick, and you can feel it in the air—a certain restlessness among the kids I see around Fishtown. It reminds me a little of that heavy...
2026-07-14
Reading: Discovery Not Duty
Sometimes, I feel like I'm battling a tide. You see these parents—good people, really—worried sick about their kids and reading. Summer’s over, routines are ...
2026-07-14
The Compromise of Learning
It’s funny, really – how everything feels like a compromise these days. I was sitting at my kitchen table last week, stirring that gravy my grandmother start...
2026-07-14
Money Lessons: Small Steps to Big Understanding
Sometimes, I think about what I wish someone had taught me when I was younger—not some big, dramatic thing, but something practical, something that would hav...
2026-07-14
Food, Focus, and Finding a Little Help
Sometimes it feels like everything we do as teachers is just…patchwork. We’re trying to fix things, help kids find a way, but you're always working with what...