Now Is the Time to Join Your School’s Governance Team Here’s Why, and How to Do It The State of California is pumping stimulus money into schools like a kid pumps pencil shavings into the back of his desk. As a teacher, I’d like to see more than my union, or my district decides what […]
COVID-19
Students and Families; It’s Time to Retire Our Headsets
Several years ago, I retired as a volunteer firefighter. Soon thereafter, I put my helmet and my badge in a glass case. This year, as a teacher, I ended my last Zoom class. I then took off my headset and I realized that I’m going to be placing it in a glass case too. In […]
A Millennial Librarian Wants to Change How We View the Library
Jessica Fitzpatrick is a high school librarian in Houston and is in her eighth year of education. She holds a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from the University of Houston and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. She is the 2020 TLA Branding Award Winner for Community […]
Would Education Collapse If Teachers Stopped Working for Free?
On Friday, the science teacher on my team rolled past my door on Friday afternoon. In hand – or on wheels, rather – were 2 carts full of spirit wear that she and her student council members created, sold, and distributed. “Only crazy people come back to school on Fridays.” When our school’s nurse retired […]
#PandemicPedagogy: It’s Time to Break Up With This School Year
As the school year comes to a close, it is common for educators to reflect on the last ten months and think about how they’ll make next year even better. But as this whirlwind of a year winds down, many of us have not even an ounce left to give – for reflection, improvement, or […]
Joining or Avoiding the Educator Exodus
To stay or not to stay, that is the question. Saying that the 2020-2021 school year was difficult for teachers would be an understatement. We navigated virtual learning, hybrid learning, transitioning to 100% traditional learning in some cases, all while being evaluated and fearing contracting COVID-19 in our classroom. I’m not sure what the qualifications […]
Reinventing Pandemic Schooling: More than Making Lemonade from Lemons
Dr. Helen Hoffman is a veteran teacher, author, and advocate for better schools. With 30 years of teaching at both the high school and college level, Helen’s mission is to shape the future of education by helping teachers create school experiences that are more engaging, enjoyable, and purposeful than our current ones. Her new book, […]
Mismatched: Your Brain Under Stress is a Must-Watch Documentary for Educators
The Documentary Daniel Kirsch, Ph.D., is the President of the American Institute of Stress and is a resident of my hometown of Mineral Wells, Texas. I have met him on a handful of occasions and recently had the opportunity to watch a documentary he had a hand in creating, along with documentary filmmaker Justin Smith, […]