Every year I collaborate with colleagues to host a high school field trip to a local college campus. We explore art collections, tour the campus and give students time to explore the nearby downtown for a brief respite. The goal of connecting artistic perspective to their interpretations of world history is tangential to the elation students enjoy with a […]
Current Events in Education
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, Kindergarten, The Student Teacher Diaries
Student Teaching Diaries: Bringing the World Into Your Classroom
Today there are many ways to expand your classroom walls. Field trips, virtual trips, Skype conversations, and traveling trunks can all provide your students with experiences and expertise that help their learning. As an educator you need to be able to match your objectives with resources near you. Inviting visitors into the classroom is another […]
Posted inChild Development, Common Core, Current Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Literacy, Mathematics, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion, Parents, Science, Social Studies
Engaging Parents From School To Home
The school to home link is very important to me. Many people view today’s education as starting and stopping in the classroom. Learning is an ongoing process and needs to continue from the classroom to home and back again. But parents tell me all the time that they don’t know how to ‘teach’ their children, […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, Interviews, Kindergarten, Middle School, Stellar Educator of the Week
Inspirational Educator: Joshua Katz, TEDx Talks' "Toxic Testing Terminator"
Every plaguing problem needs a caped crusader. When it comes to the burdensome culture of standardized assessment, teachers have found one in Joshua Katz (@jakatz87), the “Toxic Testing Terminator.” It’s been about one year since Katz delivered his TEDx Talk on “The Toxic Culture of Education.” In between then and now he’s run for political […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Social Studies
Lincoln's Assassination, 150 Year Later
The Shot & The Plot: Sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s Assassination It was 150 years ago this month when a single gunshot from a Derringer pistol changed the course of American history. On April 15, 1865, John Wilkes Booth interrupted a performance of “My American Cousin” to assassinate the President of the United States. The actor and […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured
Teaching and the Fear of a Mistake
Teaching. No other profession is so closely watched for mistakes. Of course, I realize why- we are in charge of America’s future and it is a very important job. Public school teachers have an extra reason for being held accountable: we are paid with the public’s tax money. Teachers take their roles very seriously and we […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Opinion, Technology
Why Schools Should Teach Social Media Etiquette
The most arduous day of my education career was a day centered on Facebook. I was completing my principal practicum, and just before my hours were finished, a student made a death threat on that social medium. I spent the day calling an array of high school students to my principal’s office, where I took […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, English Language Learners, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Languages, New Teacher Bootcamp, The New Teacher Chronicles
Advice for New ESOL Teachers: Communicating with Home
By: Jon Hardy Dealing with parents is a very intimidating part of being a new teacher and the normal hurdles are intensified with parents who don’t speak English, or who are learning English themselves. These families may need teachers to put in extra effort to reach out to students but be unsure how to ask […]