The Resurgence of the Pledge In the past, my school has been inconsistent about saying the pledge of allegiance. We’ve had it as a part of our video announcements with limited fidelity, and definitely not daily. I have only hazy memories of saying it as a student, perhaps on occasion in elementary school. This year, […]
Posted inMental Health
First-Year Teachers: Raise Your Hand If You’ve Been Bullied Too.
By Lanee Higgins Teachers should share our workplace bullying experiences in shouts instead of whispers, but I understand why we don’t. Seven years ago, I kept a record of the workplace bullying that I endured as a first-year teacher in 2014. Seven years later, rereading it leaves my stomach full of needles, my thoughts racing, […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teachers Have the Right to Rest: From One Burned Out Teacher to Another
By: Geena Bergen Geena is a teacher and advocate for teachers’ health and wellbeing. After completing her degree in Elementary Education & Psychology with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from Rider University, Geena taught 2nd grade in public school for 7 years. This summer, she transitioned to virtual teaching to have more time to dedicate to diving […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Future Is Co-Teaching
What do the names Costello, Teller, and Pepa have in common? They are incomplete on their own. Abbott doesn’t exist without Costello, Penn without Teller, and Salt without Pepa. The success of these dynamic duos stems from their harmony together. One does not exist at the same level of greatness without the other’s contribution. Few […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Waging a More Civil War on Our Campuses is the New Norm
Waging a More Civil War on Our Campuses In my second year of teaching, I made the mistake of reading a book about a boy who was secretly a wizard to my class. The next afternoon, I found the back of my head scraping the bulletin board as a mother screamed, cursing me and Satan […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Education Challenges Turn into Advantages in a Rural Community
Challenges that seemed to be disadvantages in a rural community become advantages by pushing the teachers to find ways to give students opportunities to explore the world and expand their worldview.
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
In Defense of Defending the Literary Canon
B.H. James is the author of Parnucklian for Chocolate and co-author of A Sea of Troubles: Pairing Literary and Informational Texts to Address Social Inequality and of Method to the Madness: A Common Core Guide to Creating Critical Thinkers through the Study of Literature. He has taught English at Franklin High School in Stockton, CA since 2006. Every May, I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Student-Teaching Model Is Outdated: Here’s How We Can Do Better
This summer I spoke with three friends on three consecutive days. Each declared burnout in their field – one in business, one in transportation, the other in sales – and they were hearkening back to their college-aged dreams. All parents themselves. All great with kids. All looking to become teachers. But because of student-teaching, they […]