When this pandemic hit, the closing of schools sent a ripple across America. Parents got a glimpse of what life might be like as a teacher. Amplify that feeling by a factor thirty to forty to equal teaching in a classroom, and they might begin to understand why it is so important to show teachers […]
How to Fix Education
Posted inCOVID
What E-Learning During COVID Should Have Taught Us
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I remember the first time I became dependent on e-learning for instructional purposes. It was the winter of 2014. The snow started falling right before we were supposed to return from our Winter Break. Nearly every school in our region called […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Teacher Pay Equity: I Could Afford to Stay in Education Because I Had a Partner Who Financially Supports Me
Sometimes I forget that I have spent my entire adulthood in a two-income household.
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
Teach to the Rest: Three More Ways We Can Use the Pandemic to Transform Schools For the Better- Part 2
By Thomas Courtney Last year, I wrote about the opportunity we had to change the very way in which our schools operated. Twenty years ago, teaching to the test transformed our educational system. To many, the pandemic was simply the last piece of the puzzle that revealed the picture of what our schools had become. […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
We Should Seek to Make Our Schools Communities, Not Substitute Families
“Our school is just like a family.” Nearly every teacher has heard that phrase spoken at interviews or meetings, the comparison of the collective body of faculty, staff, and students to a close-knit family unit. While it is a common sentiment in small schools, I’ve heard plenty of teachers discuss how even their larger schools […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
The “Great Resignation” Is Hurting Teacher Diversity and That Matters More Than You Think
My first teaching job was at a very small private school, where I was the only English teacher for all four grades. I made very little money, our health insurance was threatened by financial woes, and I was severely overworked. I almost left teaching after my third year and I have been forever grateful for […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Student Discipline: If the students ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy
I remember my first classroom. It was bursting at the seams with posters, fairy lights, rugs, artwork, and anything that I could squeeze onto the walls in hopes of inspiring students to want to learn. My sweet Guinea pig students were not only dealing with me trying to find my feet as an educator, but they also had to battle the distractions they were fighting in trying to pay attention to me amongst the collage of my excitement suffocating them; on all sides!
Posted inHow to Fix Education
PBIS, Restorative Justice, AVID: One Size Does Not Fit All
One of the most maddening parts about being in education is watching programs and systems be implemented in different school environments with absolute fidelity. Countless schools have attempted to and failed to bring PBIS, Restorative Justice, AVID, and even different LMS to their campus in an effective manner. While looking for the easy way out […]