Feeling frustrated with data in your classroom or school? Our upcoming virtual summit, Data in Education, is designed to change that. We’ll help you transform data from a source of stress into a source of power, leading to better teaching, improved student outcomes, and smarter decision-making. What to expect at the summit: Is this summit […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Home Visits: Building a classroom family in Room 18
Last summer, I attended an educators’ conference focused on building a positive climate and culture in schools. The conference offered a variety of break-out sessions addressing topics such as engagement, retention, cultural competency, and relationship-building. What are home visits? I quickly noticed “home visits” as a commonly discussed practice at the conference: educators visiting the […]
Collaborative Teaching? Evidence tells us it works
I came to the United States to teach during the height of the pandemic, where all students and teachers were teaching and learning online. It is in this platform of teaching, where I experienced daily interaction and collaboration among my colleagues on how to navigate teaching through the virtual world as this was something new […]
Use Holidays to Teach Apostrophes
One thing students – and adults, for that matter – struggle with is the use of apostrophes. It’s difficult to watch people of all ages butcher the proper use of this fickle piece of punctuation, but it seems to baffle those young and old. A simple way to teach apostrophe usage is to use holidays. […]
The Bullied Teacher
Bullying has received increased attention in the past few years. Administrations have placed harder and clearer rules against student bullying, clubs, and organizations have formed in schools to address bullying, and legal actions have taken place against students who have bullied other students to the point of self-harm. Bullying, as we well know, can take […]
Examining the role of privilege and audacity in stigmatizing parenting
It is a privilege to sit back and criticize someone’s parenting. And yet, as teachers, paraprofessionals, social workers, and school leaders, we often do just that. Criticize. Recently, there seems to be a reemergence of conversations on parenting in education. The blame game has been played for long enough and it’s time to stop. As […]
Unveiling the roots of math phobia: A journey toward joyful learning and equity
Math phobia: Let’s begin by reiterating one of my favorite phrases as a math teacher, “Everyone’s a math person.” Individuals who appreciate puzzles, sports, video games, and problem-solving can’t genuinely harbor a dislike for math. What breeds disdain is the culture surrounding math which creates such distress that many prefer to avoid it altogether. Renowned […]
Using Thrity Umrigar’s novels to tackle summer reading apathy
One way I suggest engaging eleventh and twelfth-grade readers — especially for summer reading assignments — involves assigning modern novels outside of the traditional canon. Two books by Thrity Umrigar, The Space Between Us (2005) and Honor (2022) created a high level of engagement in my AP English Literature students at the onset of the […]