In 2015 we struggled with what we could continue to do to support our thousands of readers across the world. We already publish three articles a day from teachers. We’re active on our social media channels (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) giving advice. We’ve started offering professional development opportunities for schools and we’re constantly adding to […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Special Education
Under the Guise of Inclusion
I remember the days in the 1960’s and 70’s when Special Education was not even a word, and anyone that had disabilities was rarely seen or heard. I’m so thankful today that we have so many programs that help students with disabilities, but as state budgets get tighter, the push for more special support staff reduction […]
Posted inFeatured, Teacher Burnout
Challenge Yourself Professionally; Avoid Teacher Burnout
The profession of teaching can sometimes be trapped by its own lore. When we started as new teachers, we all met the veterans who had been in their classrooms for 20 or 30 years, and they were held up as the examples to which we should aspire. We were all told that the goal was to get your […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
What Makes a Great Unit?
With so many skills and so many concepts, units are a necessity. We can become overwhelmed with the amount of material we have to cover in a short time. I have learned I only focus on one unit at a time. A unit is a set amount of skills or concepts tied to a literary […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Uncategorized
A Closer Look at School Choice: The Ohio Problem
choolRecently the United States Department of Education made a unique move regarding federal funds that had been awarded to the state of Ohio for expansion of charter schools. Here is part of the story. The summer of 2014 The Ohio State Board of Education began an investigation into the Horizon Science Academy High School in […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Educational Apps, From the Front Lines, High School, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Social Studies, Technology
E-Sub Plans for Educators
Writing sub plans is the task I dread most as a teacher. It is time-consuming and often the best-laid plans go awry. Substitutes misinterpret directions or students use that excuse to claim that they were led astray from a meaningful task. I have found a few digital applications that have changed the nature of the […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Fine Arts, From the Front Lines, High School, Opinion, Social Justice
Why NYC Students Seeing 'Hamilton' Is a Big Deal
On October 27th, a joint collaboration of The Rockefeller Foundation, The Gilder Lehrman Foundation, producer Jeffrey Seller, creator (and star) Lin-Manuel Miranda, and New York City public schools announced that they will provide a means for more than 20,000 eleventh graders to not just watch Hamilton, the hottest, most ground-breaking musical in decades – but to actually go […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Literacy
Different Teachers, Different Pressures
There is a certain about of pressure that comes with being a high stakes teacher, okay, it is a ton of pressure. A high stakes teacher is a teacher whose class performance on a standardized test is directly tied to the School Performance Score. At a small school, this means there are only four or […]