Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Several months ago, my fifth-grade class asked me to play Red Light, Green Light. Not typically a game my fifth graders request, it came as a surprise. Later that week I watched the first episode of a very grown-up […]
Mental Health
Posted inOpinion
Teachers Are Burnt Out, But Students Are Too
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism!It’s no surprise that teachers are burnt out. The only word that comes to mind is, “Duh.” Recently, I have been thinking about teaching, pandemic notwithstanding, and how it got this way. How has this profession normalized working well after […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why Transgender Students Need Teachers Who Aren’t Afraid
The battles taking place in the classroom in Virginia are at the core of what it means to be a teacher in American public education today. The debate over mask mandates, the US History curriculum, and how to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ students are all in the news today, with teachers and students in […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Healing Magic in a Hurting World: Analyzing Student and Teacher Relationships
By Emily Goldstein One of the hardest things to witness as a teacher, and even more so now that I am a parent of a two-year-old, is seeing young people have their dignity diminished, and their spirits and self-perceptions degraded by adults and teachers in the classroom. Often adults and teachers don’t even realize that […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
“This Book Saves Lives!” Why You Should Teach The Stars Beneath Our Feet.
In my eighth-grade English Language Arts classroom, reading was an experience. It was an opportunity to connect, express, discuss, motivate, and debate. No book demonstrated this more than The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore. There will be NO spoilers in this piece (well nothing that you can’t find out by reading the […]
Posted inChild Development, Mental Health
Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom Part 1
“Billy, that is the umpteenth time you’ve gone to the pencil sharpener. You need to sit down and get to work!” The teacher is frustrated with Billy as he continues to get out of his seat to walk around the room to the pencil sharpener. And then she reflects on what she recently learned about […]
Posted inMental Health
First-Year Teachers: Raise Your Hand If You’ve Been Bullied Too.
By Lanee Higgins Teachers should share our workplace bullying experiences in shouts instead of whispers, but I understand why we don’t. Seven years ago, I kept a record of the workplace bullying that I endured as a first-year teacher in 2014. Seven years later, rereading it leaves my stomach full of needles, my thoughts racing, […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Abusing Teachers is Normal: Normal is the Problem
“When we get back to normal” is the attitude helping people see through the difficulty that has been the COVID-19 pandemic. [bctt tweet=”Abusing teachers is normal. Normal is not a destination worth seeking.” username=””] “Mental health” and “work-life balance” are the in-vogue phrases that are used to tell teachers to take care of themselves. Meanwhile, […]