Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion, Uncategorized

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? The Math and Reading Versions

In school math was a subject I approached with trepidation. I usually was the last kid in class asking my teacher to check my problems so that I could continue my homework when I was at home. Here at The Educator’s Room, we’ve written about math instruction intensively especially with the introduction of new tests based […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Literacy, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized

Instructional Coaching 101: You’ve Just Been Hired, Now What?

As I sat at my desk and fumed all I could say to myself was, “I did not sign up for this. This is not how you treat others!” The longer I repeated those words the angrier I became and before long I was hurriedly typing away an email to my principal about my interaction with that […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instructional Coach Files, Instructional Strategies, Middle School, Professional Development

The Problem in Urban Schools- Stop Teaching to the Test

“I mean even though I taught all of the standards last semester, but I don’t feel like my kids learned anything!” These were the words one of the teachers who I support as an Instructional Coach said to me  as we sat in her classroom after school discussed all things teaching and learning. This wasn’t […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instructional Strategies

Biggie Give Me One More Chance…Incorporating Pop Culture in the English/ Language Arts Urban Classroom

Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of the untimely death of Hip Hop Giant Notorious B.I.G. Looking back at this moment in pop history, I still remember what it was like in 1997 when I was a senior in high school learning that one of my favorite rappers was dead. My  AP Literature class was abuzz […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Professional Development, Teacher Branding

Teacher Branding Advice for School Districts: Make Your Teachers Happy

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, I worked in a district where the majority of teachers were unhappy-unhappy to the point of downright disgust. Almost every employee  I saw walk into a school building there was a smirk followed by a frown and immediately followed up with a collective eye roll. Teachers […]