Bob O’Connor and I met during our 7th grade year at South High (a small neighborhood school that included 7th through 12th grades) and became best friends fairly quickly. I immediately liked Bob because of his positive outlook on life, his sly sense of humor, and mostly his family values. Only later did I discover […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
When Students Think in L1 First: What Teachers Often Misunderstand About Language Learning
William’s mother sent me a message on WeChat after our first lesson together. “I can roughly understand why his English now sounds like Chinglish,” she wrote. “It’s because he’s been away from the teaching approach of that international school for about two years, and he’s read very few English novels in the past two years. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Everything Educators Need to Know About the Seal of Biliteracy Requirements: 5 Common FAQs
In an increasingly globalized world, multilingualism has become a highly valuable skill. The Seal of Biliteracy has become a prestigious benchmark in the American education system, serving as recognition of multilingual excellence among youth across the country. Given its widespread recognition and distinguished nature, it is imperative that educators understand the specific requirements and pathways […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Beyond the Bell: A New Jersey Teacher’s Adventure of Learning, Healing, and Storytelling
Education does not end when the dismissal bell rings. For many educators, teaching is not simply a profession; it is a calling that extends into homes, communities, and the everyday moments that shape a child’s growth. After more than 30 years in education, teaching in Franklin, Piscataway, and Edison, I have come to understand that […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Building Empathic Classrooms: What We Gain from Peer Support Models
A Need to Belong My memories of being bullied in middle school and high school are still vivid. As an individual on the autism spectrum, the complexities of social relationships were especially challenging during my formative years. It is with great empathy that I now approach the challenge of inclusive settings as an educator. I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Trailblazing for Liberation: How Jamial Black Is Reimagining Education as Justice Work
In a national moment where education is increasingly shaped by policy debates, cultural tensions, and systemic inequities, educators like Top 50 Educator, Jamial Black, are reframing the profession as more than instruction; they are positioning it as a site of intervention, advocacy, and liberation. Black, a first-generation scholar, educator, and founder of Roots of Wisdom […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Opinion
The Objectification of Public Education
When I first entered the classroom at eighteen—as a long-term substitute, a vacancy, a body-to-fill-the-room; so I was hired, so I was told—I carried with me all the freshest and most potent and most upsetting memories of being a student in the same school system. Among them, I remembered how alienating my hunger felt, having […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Gratitude Tour: Libby Lang
Six years into my still-fledgling career, I began teaching at Durham Academy, a Pre-K to 12 independent school in North Carolina. It would be difficult to find anyone who represents all that is wonderful and worthy about Durham Academy more than Libby Lang. Independent schools, especially, come to be known for certain families. I’d stack […]