In classrooms across America, educators often speak about the power of representation, belonging, and resilience. Few embody those values as fully as Angello Villarreal, a scholar, teacher, and community leader whose journey from Peru to New Jersey classrooms reflects the transformative potential of education itself. Dr. Villarreal teaches at Freehold Township High School and RAISE […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Power of Connection: Lessons from the Teachers We Never Forget
It surely takes little effort for most of us visiting The Educator’s Room to conjure up memories of favorite teachers and in our imaginations picture them in their classroom kingdoms. Mr. Hemphill is the teacher I see, a square-built man with thinning sandy-colored hair, who always wore a tie and white shirt with its sleeves […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teaching the Whole Human: The Relational Leadership of Dr. Leigh Alley
In an era when education policy often focuses on test scores, pacing guides, and performance metrics, educators like Dr. Leigh Alley are reminding the profession of a foundational truth: schools are human systems before they are academic ones. A lifelong coastal Mainer and proud public educator, Dr. Alley serves as Coordinator of Teacher Education at […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Proof That Self-Pacing Works: A Former Social Studies Teacher’s Perspective
I’ll be honest—when I first heard about self-pacing, I was skeptical. Sure, in a perfect world where every student is motivated, organized, and on grade level, maybe. But in my real-world social studies classroom? With 30 students, wide-ranging reading abilities, multilingual learners, and a general aversion to primary sources? It felt like a lofty ideal […]
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Gratitude Tour: The Most Reverend Joel M. Konzen
In 1982, after teaching for a year in the DeKalb County School system, I learned of an English position at the Marist School in North Atlanta, GA. I discovered in my research before applying for the position that the goal of the Marist Brothers and Fathers is “to make Jesus known and loved through the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Grade Inflation and the Illusion of Equity
As a high school history teacher, I find joy in making lesson plans that allow students to view their world through different lenses and make connections between the past and present. When I watch students experience that “light bulb” moment of recognizing how those in power distort history to maintain power or find empowerment from […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
When Growth Refuses to Look Like What We Expect
Yaneth is a multilingual learner who has been on an IEP since preschool. She is in sixth grade now, and she still cannot read. That sentence makes people uncomfortable. It invites questions—some curious, some accusatory. What intervention failed? What program didn’t work? How does this happen after so many years of schooling? What it often […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teacher Diaries: I’m All Talked Out for Today
I suddenly know why teachers say they’re “exhausted” or “teacher tired” after all the events, expectations, and errands to the copyroom where I’m sure a handful of us contemplate “what am I doing here?” While we may know that we are there to make copies, and on a bigger note, to encourage the young minds […]