If I had a dollar for every time I’ve said “Masks up” and “phones away,” this year, I actually would be in teaching for the money.
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
How This Teacher Healed from Racial Trauma
Kim Lee is a physics teacher at Pinole Valley High School in West Contra Costa Unified School District. She has been teaching for the last four years. She is the teacher sponsor of the Anti-Racism Club and helps run the Peer Tutoring Program. She is committed to promoting diversity and equity through STEM education, as […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Do You Still Want to Become a Teacher? – A Student’s Perspective
I remember being in a grocery store line when someone noticed my basket full of snacks and asked if I had a daycare. I smiled and replied, “No, I am a teacher.” The stranger’s smile turned from a friendly smile to a semi-frown, full of what seemed to be concern and pity. She proceeded to touch my arm (which transparently has always made me uncomfortable with strangers) and said sadly, “Oh, wow, a teacher? Thank you for your service.” Service? I felt like I was in the military!
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Sad Truth about the Teacher Salary
Teachers are Underpaid and Overworked No one goes into teaching to get rich. Not with a teacher salary. You probably won’t see a teacher roll up to school in their Ferrari, Chanel bag in hand, strolling across the parking lot without a care in the world. You are more likely to see a teacher hopping out […]
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Three Tips on How to Create an Engaging Lesson Plan
Need tips on how to make an engaging lesson plan? The truth is, it’s easier than you may think. There are only three key elements necessary to make a lesson plan exciting. Interested to know what the three key components are? Drum roll, please….Here they are: make learning fun, relatable to students’ lives, and give […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Opinion: How Teachers Triumph Over Trauma When Battling Trauma Ourselves?
“Can I talk to you?” As educators, we are taught to prioritize being the ones to provide others with a safe space, trusted adult, and potentially be that one voice who can talk someone off a literal edge of a breakdown. But what happens when we need the same for ourselves? As a colleague, we […]
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What Teachers Can Learn from an Afghan American Student Living in America
Teaching in Pinole, California over the past twenty years, I can count on one hand the students of Afghan descent I have encountered, let alone taught. As I watched what was unfolding in Afghanistan in the first few weeks of August of 2021, my first thoughts went to my current Afghan student who I have been blessed to know for the past four years. I had her sister in previous years as well. My mind also went back to my first Afghan family from over a decade ago, wherein I also had two of their three sisters. I became close with their families and stay connected to this day.
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Throw Your Perfect Attendance Award Away
When I reflect on my teaching career I am saddened by how much I put my attendance above my mental and physical health. Here are some examples. I wrote sub plans on the bathroom floor at three in the morning after bouts of diarrhea and chills. I screamed at an urgent care doctor, “Are you […]