Sarah Styf is a 19-year high school English teacher currently on a teaching sabbatical. She lives in the Houston area with her husband and two children. She is passionate about education reform and civic engagement. She can be found on Instagram @sarah.styf and Twitter @sarahstyf. When we experience moments of pause, we are often able to finally see […]
COVID-19
Posted inCOVID
Miguel Cardona’s Letter to Parents and Students: Our Students and Families are Resilient
As the newly confirmed Education of Secretary, Dr. Miguel Cardona, he writes his first Opinion Piece. Read below. For more information, click here. To our Nation’s Parents and Students: I write first, as your new Secretary of Education, to acknowledge the extraordinarily challenging year you’ve endured. Between the health crisis, economic hardship, staunch national division, […]
Posted inCOVID
President Biden Pushes For Teachers To Get Their COVID Vaccine Dose By March
As teachers continue to push to be pushed ahead of the lines for COVID-19 vaccines, President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he wants every teacher, school staff, and child care worker in the United States to get at least one shot in March. This comes amidst more guidance that says the schools can safely reopen […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Opinion: Deliver Us from the Biden Administration’s Focus on Testing During a Pandemic
While working from home, I quite often have Spotify playing in the background when one of my favorite favorites came on — Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt. With the sting of the whip on my shoulder With the salt of my sweat on my brow Elohim, God on high, can you hear your people […]
Posted inCoronavirus, COVID, COVID-19, Current Events in Education
Opinion: Covid-19 Has Shown Us It is Time for a New Grading System
By: Rachael Rudi The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up the opportunity for change within the education system. From racial justice, to access to an internet connection, to whether or not homework is valid, we are witnessing a shift in how schools operate that will not fully return to “normal” once this pandemic ends. The buzzword […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Opinion: The Teacher Stories We Tell Ourselves: Let’s Assume the Best
We (yep, all of us) are stressed. Students are swamped with work and desperate loneliness. Parents are at their wits’ end trying to keep their jobs, kids, and sanity afloat. Teachers are exhausted from the literal and emotional headache of online learning. Administrators are trying to balance the needs of their staff and students […]
Posted inCOVID
Opinion: Insurrection on a Black Educator’s Soul
By Tina Starks, Instructional Coach and policy fellow with Teach Plus CA Just two weeks after the failed coup at the Capitol and added trauma on the souls of Black people, Inauguration Day 2021 symbolized the restoration of hope and possibilities for a different America than what we had experienced for the last four years. […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Being There For Our Students During a Pandemic
In 17 years of teaching, I shudder to think of the number of essays, poems, and stories I’ve read or graded. It is part of the territory I suppose. The majority of the time, the pieces are normal. Then, there are those that make one’s blood run cold. I honestly do not remember the topic […]