Instruction & Curriculum

“There’s no way I’d do it. I’d rather be fired!” “Sign me up tomorrow; we should be testing all kids and teachers! We’re in a pandemic!” “It’s a conspiracy. Why do you think they’re so bent on us getting this shot!” These were the tidbits of conversations that I heard as I clocked in Friday […]

On Sept. 11, 2001, it was my eleventh day of teaching.  As I headed into my seventh-grade language arts classroom at 7:30 a.m., I was already sweating in the lingering summer heat of early September.  A few posters on the mostly bare wall hung haphazardly in the humidity, mirroring my own wilted exhaustion.  I was […]

By Lanee Higgins At 16, it was my dream to become an English teacher. I wanted to inspire students the way my English teachers inspired me. I sacrificed so much to become a teacher–sleep, sanity, and being there for my grandma’s final days of life– it hurts that much more that at 28 I let […]

In March of this year, I watched as a student’s beloved grandfather had a stroke via Zoom.  It was beyond frustrating to know there was so little I could do for him, and the event was not only traumatic for my student but pretty much summed up the entire year for me as a virtual […]

Jonathan Blackstock is a teacher in the Georgia Mountains. Often, the motivational strategies that well-meaning administrators line up for pre-planning fail to relate to our goals in the fine arts department, but this year, our speaker offered a reason to believe in students and a way to help students believe in themselves. Marching Off The […]

“You sound like my mom.” If I had a dollar for every time a student said that to me, I would probably be rich enough to retire early! I used to laugh when students called me a “Mama Bear”, and smile at some who still call me “Auntie” to this day. These days, I embrace […]