If social media can be counted on for anything, it is reliable in the ability to tick me off and throw me into a spiral of rage-induced overthinking. The most recent spark came from a simple meme stating, ” I read today that in Denmark, empathy is taught as a school subject. We really should […]
Aimee Cribbs
Dr. Aimee Cribbs has twenty years of elementary classroom experience in Georgia's Title One schools. She's taught in a diverse, urban setting and a small rural system. She left the elementary classroom in 2017 to pursue a career in post-secondary education. She now serves as an Assistant Professor of Education at Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia. She is an advocate for teachers, who she believes have the single most important job in the world.
Posted inSocial Justice
White Privilege and the Power of Revision in Education
My first honest conversation about white privilege came much too late in life. I was a 40-something doctoral candidate taking a class on multicultural education with a dozen other white women. Thankfully, the course was taught by the same (white) professor whose mantra became my own: The more I learn, the less I know. This […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Getting Reading Right: The Education Week Online Summit
Getting Reading Right was the title and focus of the free online Education Week summit held on January 28, 2020. EdWeek reporters moderated with guest literacy specialists in six separate online chats framed by the results of the 2019 EdWeek Research Center survey on Early Reading Instruction. Online registered participants were eligible for a certificate […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Putting the S in PBIS
Almost 26,000 schools across the U.S. are implementing Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). A central characteristic of this Department of Education-funded initiative is customization. There is no one “right way” to implement PBIS and implementation is likely to differ across systems, schools and even individual classrooms. Intervention tiers are built around the principles of […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
How Teaching is like Shopping at Aldi
If you’ve ever shopped at Aldi, you know that it is a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s something that can’t be explained without experiencing it for yourself. The same is true with teaching. There are just some things you can’t understand unless you’ve been in the classroom, like: Always come prepared. You can’t just show up at […]
Posted inInstructional Strategies
Teaching Your Way through Controversy: Responding to Kaepernick’s Stance
Even elementary students are talking about the Nike deciding to sponsor former Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. So, how do you respond as an educator and model of critical thinking? It’s no easy task when you are likely to hold a strong opinion of your own. Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) is an option when faced with the […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
The State of the Teacher Union
As teachers organize in protest across the nation, the Supreme Court is preparing to release a decision that could change laws governing teacher unions. In March, the highest court in the land heard oral arguments for Janus v. AFSCME and plans to issue a decision on this landmark case this summer. Mark Janus is an […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Dear Madame Secretary DeVos: We Will Not Be Ignored
Dear Madame Secretary DeVos: In response to the recent surge of teacher walkouts, you stated that teachers should “serve the students that are there to be served.” I couldn’t agree more. I also understand why, as the highest-ranking Education official in the nation, you must discourage teacher protests. However, as a veteran public-school educator who […]