Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Imagine a substitute teacher dumping your desk drawers out on the top of your desk because they wanted to “reorganize it.” That is what happened to my cooperating teacher during my student teaching days. My cooperating teacher’s organizing skills […]
Ask a Teacher
Learn about how to ask a teacher about what really happens in a classroom.
Posted inOpinion
A Teacher’s Plan for Elon Musk’s $44 Billion
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I wish I didn’t know the name Elon Musk. But when someone buys so much cultural influence, it’s tough to avoid hearing about how he shoots himself into space. His latest endeavor, buying Twitter for $44 billion, made me […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
How to Help Unaccompanied Youth in Your School
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Who is an unaccompanied homeless youth? I’ve written previously about how, in education, we define homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Law. It is a definition that includes those living with others or in hotels due to economic hardship or emergency. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
7 Picture Books for Earth Day That Aren’t The Lorax
Each year on Earth Day elementary school teachers across the U.S. pull out The Lorax and other tried and true read-alouds. Many elementary teachers – a group that is disproportionately white women – tend to gravitate towards the books they grew up with. This is a problem. And while there’s nothing wrong with the environmental […]
Posted inTechnology
How I Use Apps to Improve Family Engagement
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Parent communication is one of the most critical aspects of teaching. Without it, parents will not be informed about what is going on in the classroom, and teachers can feel less supported. It can also get easily pushed aside […]
Posted inOpinion
Children Don’t Avoid “Divisive” Topics, And Neither Can We
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a primary teacher, I had interesting and sometimes challenging conversations on a regular basis. Young children do not limit their comments and questions to what’s “age-appropriate” or what is or isn’t “divisive.” They are trying to figure out […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Why You Should Try a No Cell Phone Policy in Your Classroom
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! If you want to try an interesting experiment, ask your students to turn up the volume on their cell phones and tally how many times in a class period their cell phones signal an alert. We tried it a […]
Posted inPedagogy
Red Light! It’s Time to Take Digital Literacy Seriously
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Several months ago, my fifth-grade class asked me to play Red Light, Green Light. Not typically a game my fifth graders request, it came as a surprise. Later that week I watched the first episode of a very grown-up […]