As a teacher, I get my best ideas in the shower. I mean literally as I’m letting the steaming hot water hit my face, the lightbulb in my head goes off and (ding, ding, ding) I have to try this new idea. A couple of months ago this happened after repeatedly getting ten to fifteen […]
From the Front Lines
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Common Core, Educational Apps, English Language Learners, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Inquiry Based Research For John Steinbeck's Novel 'The Pearl'
I want my 8th-grade students to learn more than just the standards – I want them to learn strategies to learn, and how to utilize the best tools to show their learning. I remind them that in high school, college and careers they will be responsible for making decisions about how they create projects, and […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Opinion, The International Teacher, The Traveling Teacher
Taiwan English Teaching Assistant: Things I Learned in My First Five Months of Teaching
from Kinmen, Taiwan It is almost time for us to go on our 2 ½ week vacation for Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) and I wanted to share some things I learned in my first few months of teaching English in Taiwan. Think inside the box– In my first month of teaching I felt pressured to […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instructional Strategies, Opinion
No One Wants to be ‘Managed’
Years ago I stopped presenting, coaching and even talking about ‘classroom management’. Who wants to be managed? To be ‘handled’? As an adult, I want to be led. Students want to learn and they want (yearn for) boundaries; AND they want to be led. Creating and adhering to a list of concrete rules and automatic […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, High School, Opinion
How to Survive the Last Semester of the School Year with Your Sanity Intact!
News Flash: The Winter Break is almost over. Yup. Just like that. We wait, and wait, AND WAIT all of first semester for two unadulterated weeks to experience a WHOLE lot of Netflix and chill only to remember that it was only temporary and we have been kicked to the curb yet again until the […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, High School, Opinion
CONVERSATIONS WITH CRAIG: How Teaching With a Friend Makes Me A Better Teacher
Almost every morning of my life, I have a conversation with one of my best friends in the world. His name is Craig. Our conversations wander. I never really know what our serpentine dialectics will yield. But there is one thing I know for sure: these conversations over the past five years have made me […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines
The Educator's Room Learning Academy Sign Up Starts Soon
Last week we sent out a survey to our readers about what issues they are having both inside and outside the classroom and how we can help. Within a week, we received over 3,000 survey responses spawning us to create a service for teachers, by teachers. Do you find yourself up at night trying to […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion, Parents
Out of the Mouths of Parents:10 Things That Parents Have Actually Said
Ahhhhhh….. Christmas break. I’ve been waiting for this vacation since October when the honeymoon phase of a new school year began wearing off and the realization of ‘normality’ set in. This break allows me time to reflect, piece my weary self back together and recall some of the craziest things that parents have said this […]