ACE Teaching Fellows Blog

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...

Students and sister (left) holding up a sign that reads, "Thank You for the Gift of Catholic Education."

The Beauty of Catholic Schools Week

When I saw that I would be writing a blog post for Catholic Schools Week, I knew right away that I wanted to write about community. Community is the second...

Ms. Hall's sixth grade home room posing for a photo from their Christmas party.

Presence Over Perfection: What Really Matters in Your Classroom

It’s Saturday, January 3rd. Classes start up again on Monday. You’re back at your ACE placement, your plans for the week are solid, your assignments are prepped, your grade book...

Plush Mary laying down with books in Schroeder's classroom.

Waiting Together: Advent in the Classroom

I have always loved Advent, but the season took on an even deeper meaning once I started sharing it with my 5th-grade students. Experiencing the hope and wonder of Christ’s...

ACE Teachers singing joyfully during Lessons and Carols at December Retreat 2025

I Can't Wait

“We wait because there’s a promise. There’s a presupposition of something more worth waiting for.” “But I want it now!” is a sentence heard throughout the country this time of...