On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating a “national system of interstate and defense highways.” The work to create a national system of highways, now something we seemingly take for granted, was nearly an unprecedented public first waged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a bill of the […]
Jake Miller
Mr. Jake Miller is the 2016 National History Day Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, a 2017 NEA Global Fellow to China, and a former candidate for county-wide office. Miller has written more than 500 articles, most of which have appeared on The Educator's Room. He's the opening contributor to TER's book When the Fire Is Gone. Learn more about Jake at www.MrJakeMiller.com
Posted inOpinion
Why I Want to Karate-Chop the SmartBoard and 19 Other Rants
Why I want to karate-chop the SmartBoard I worked for a district who had the nicest SmartBoards and projectors around. I liked them, they were easy to use, and they were only there a few years. But, the darndest thing happened: the same year we took a forced pay freeze, the district purchased new equipment […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
15 Things My 2-Year-Old Taught Me This Year
A few weeks after my son was born in November 2015, I started thinking differently as a teacher. While I don’t think this applies to everyone, I feel like it did – and continues to – make me a better teacher. For the past two years I’ve shared lessons I’ve learned from him as a […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Can Teachers Hug Students?
I will never forget the most tragic moment in one of my students’ lives. It was the first year I taught, and he was in my homeroom. Nobody expected him to be there that day. Why? Both his parents died in a car accident the day before. And, then – there he was. The first […]
Posted inTeacher Burnout
A Teacher’s Power of Positivity
I’ve spent enough times surrounded by negativity. I’ve gone the other way when the “negative teacher” walks down the hallway. I’ve watched people publicly belittle my profession and union over and again. I’ve led that union and had to open far too many negative emails of plea / help / disdain. I’ve hoped for that […]
Posted inFeatured
How My School Attained Blue Ribbon Status
On Thursday, September 28th, Good Hope Middle School (the school where I teach) was one of 342 schools (35 of the middle or junior high institutions) designated a Blue Ribbon School. Since then, a few of my fellow teachers asked me “How did we earn such a distinction?”, “What does your school do differently?”, or, […]
Posted inBook Review
Book Review: The Smartest Kids in the World
The inside cover of Amanda Ripley’s book asks the question, “What’s it like to be a child in the world’s new education superpowers?” – namely South Korea, Poland, and – yes, of course – Finland. To accomplish this, she follows the lives of three separate American teens who serve as foreign exchange students there. In […]
Posted inBack to School
What Opening 100 Sixth Graders’ Lockers Taught Me About Kids
She was running late for the departing Friday bus. I saw her as she laid there on the floor, sobbing, as other staff members patiently held 100 buses to send the nearly 800 students home for the weekend. “I want my mommmmmmy!” She wailed, with the tears waterfalling down her face. Here lay the sister of […]