I pulled into the parking lot and parked in my usual place. I was always early, and there was only one other car in the parking lot. I hopped out and got my extension cord to plug in the block heater. The cord was still frozen and had to be carefully untangled. The drive to […]
Languages
Posted inPedagogy
Honor Mother Languages in Your Classroom
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a young girl, newly immigrated from Guatemala, I wondered whether my new teachers and classmates saw the real me -an individual with diverse thoughts, ideas, language, and culture. I felt alone and scared as I tried to overcome […]
Posted inEnglish Language Learners
English in America: Is English Really our “Official” Language in Schools?
English, the “Official” American Language Although the United States does not have an official language, everyone knows that English is the language of the land. Despite our history of multilingual immigrants who later became Americans, English has always been the “American language.” Our school system has reinforced this idea and has caused many challenges for […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
5 Tips for Navigating the International School Job Fair
Many teachers dream of leaving their home country to be an international teacher. It’s hard to blame them. The class sizes are often astronomically smaller, the pay is better (compared to the new country’s standard of living), and the benefits often include housing, airfare, more time off, and a chance to travel and learn a […]
Posted inAdult Learning
American Values In the Classroom and Community: Where do we stand as a nation today?
As a teacher and American citizen, it is difficult to discern what values we stand for as a nation today. It seems that our government has blurred the lines between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, equality and discrimination, and honesty and scandal. In the pendulum swing from the “post-racial” Obama years to the quasi-authoritarian […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Royal Wedding: Why Should We Care? One American Teacher’s Perspective
The news broke this morning: another school shooting, this time in Santa Fe, Texas. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to entertain the thought that this most recent massacre is the 22nd school shooting this year. I can’t bear to think that ten more families will be planning funerals and that […]
Posted inSocial Justice
Understanding Ramadan: A Classroom Teacher’s Guide
This year in mid-April, approximately 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide will be observing the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, which begins the morning after sighting the last sliver of a crescent moon before a new moon and lasts for 30 days. The observance of Ramadan is deeply […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Making the Dual Language Decision
We all know that communicating with parents is essential to being an effective educator, but when the majority of your students speak a different language at home, it becomes frustrating to have to find a translator for every single phone call. I’ve also learned, after numerous confusing emails, not to completely trust Google Translate. I […]