At JinNing Elementary School, there are no custodians. I arrive on my bike each morning around 8:15 to find students, from pre-school to sixth grade carrying out their daily morning cleaning chores, frolicking throughout the school yard raking leaves, mopping floors, or collecting trash. It’s funny to see the students playing in the sudsy […]
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Posted inConfessions of a Teacher, Current Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Opinion, Social Justice
A Sit Down with BadAss Teachers
Some of the most vocal teachers today are self-professed Badass Teachers, or BATs for short. They’re full of opinions with action to match. We at TER sat down with Marla Kilfoyle, Executive Director and Melissa Tomlinson, Asst. Executive Director to learn more about this movement. Jake Miller, The Educator’s Room: How did Badass Teachers […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
Five Ways to Increase Student Engagement
Not everything in life comes easily, we know this and we harp and harp on students to “try harder” while sometimes they are giving it all they got and it is not good enough. We all have those moments where we feel like nothing we do is ever good enough. Imagine how it feels to […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Going Paperless, Instruction & Curriculum, Series, Technology
Adventures in Going Paperless: Making Assumptions about Digital Literacy
I am an immigrant—digitally speaking. Like many born in the late 70’s, I have fond(ish) memories of hovering over my Brother WP 1400D, busting out a 14 page essay due the next day. I used card catalogs, bound journals, and microfiche for my research. I didn’t even have an email account until college, much less […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Educational Apps, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Literacy, Social Studies
Classroom Work Flow Before the Holidays
I have one week and three days to go before students are released for the holiday break. It is such a difficult time of year to set goals, establish a workflow and keep the enthusiasm in student learning. Students carry the stress and the burden of the holidays on themselves in a myriad of ways […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Taking Care Of YOU
Stress is absolutely killing me, emotionally and physically. As my semester draws to a close I can’t help but think about the roller coaster this year has already been. I love the feeling of starting a new school year. The fresh set of students, the eager eyes, the fun lesson plans. As the year progresses […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Literacy, Opinion
Celebrating the Little Victories in the Classroom
This morning, I was listening to Joel Osteen and I felt that the sermon was directed towards me. It was about celebrating small victories. As teachers, we want to change the world. We have big dreams for our students and we lose sight of the little things. While the big successes are wonderful, they are […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
The Reading Paradigm: Quality vs. Quantity in Reading Instruction
When you first started teaching reading, did you think your students had to read all those books that come with the reading program? I did. I opened my box, pulled out the teacher’s manual, organized the basals, decodable readers, and leveled readers. We would read the story in the reading book (basal), then break off […]