ACE Teaching Fellows Blog

Image of ACE New Orleans on the basketball court. From left to right: Amanda Dempson, James Walsh, Jordan Pavlock, Caelan O'Connor, and Sophia Buonavolonta

Struggle Like Your Students

“It’s a whole body thing. Your shot should be one fluid motion.” “Follow through. Hold your hand up after you release the ball.” “Again.” While preparing for a beloved tradition...

Image of St. Mary's Lake on campus at Notre Dame

A Letter to My Future ACE Teachers

A letter to my future ACE teachers: “I think I’ve made a grave mistake.” This was a sentence I wrote on a teal post-it, tacked to the cork board of...

Clayton Glasgow (middle with blue button down and blue tie) talking to students on left (male in red sweater) and right (female in blue polo) or him. They are at a lab table looking at a worksheet on the table.

Slivers of Perfection

A few days ago, there was an incident in my classroom that I did not handle very well. On the contrary, I handled it quite poorly, and I ended up...

Image of Jack Hutter in blue tshirt posing with three of his students in red sweaters and red plaid skirts: two girls to his left and one to his right.

Spring Fever Isn’t Just for the Kids

As the school year starts to wind down, teachers know all too well the restlessness that resides in our classrooms. The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer...

Image that ACE 33's Seamus Dougherty took of Notre Dame's campus from St. Joseph's Lake where you can see the Basilica and Main Building from the other side of the lake.

What Do You Seek?

"What do you seek?" Triumphant in my acceptance into ACE 33 and a growing understanding of my new community in Detroit, the question above stopped me in my tracks. For...

Laugh at the Little Things

Though my first semester of teaching was a blur, it is defined by a sense of fun. Dropped into a new city, school, and job with only eight weeks of...

Screenshot of CBS On the Road Series. Picture of the bottom of a swimming pool from atop with text that reads, "If I couldn't handle not being good at something, then how could I consider myself a successful person?"

What's Not in the Lesson Plan

It might be crazy to admit that one of my objectives on Fridays is to get my students to cry, but it isn’t because I am giving an impossible test...

ACE Teachers posing before So-Cal Marathon 2026

Running Through Discomfort

I feel great. Granted, I’m only 3 miles into my 13.1 mile journey, but I feel better than ever. It’s hot, but I’ve run in this weather countless times. After...

High school students from Cleveland Central Catholic sit next to their elementary school prayer partners from St. Stanislaus during our Ash Wednesday Mass.

We Are Dust: Reflections on Teaching and the Lenten Journey

“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This Ash Wednesday anthem, spoken as our foreheads are marked with a smudgy black cross, is a reminder of our...

Mary Margaret Schroeder with her students

Waiting Courageously

As an ACE Ambassador, you commit to ACE a full year before you ever step into a classroom as a Teaching Fellow. During that year, friends accept post-graduate jobs, professors...