Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! In my English and writing courses, I always love to share the following Anne Lamott quote with students: “…writing needs to breathe and move.” To further expand on this quote, I explain that writing cannot be constricted in a […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
5 Reasons to End Active Shooter Drills in Schools
As we head into warmer afternoons and the end-of-year traditions, it’s natural to reflect on the year that’s been. This year felt far from normal as we navigated the rollercoaster of schooling during the pandemic. But some things did return to normal, including mandated active shooter drills. Forty states require public schools to conduct these […]
Posted inOpinion
The Toxic Positivity Propaganda Machine
In order to change destructive patterns, we need to stop pretending they aren’t there. Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! For what feels like the thousandth time, I am laying in bed at 4:00 p.m. Exhausted from the teacher workday and too drained to be […]
Posted inOpinion
Forget College Readiness, We Need Citizenship Readiness
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! When I started teaching high school English twenty years ago, my main focus was on preparing my students for college. It took me years of teaching, parenthood, a graduate degree, and personal distress about our national politics to finally […]
Posted inOpinion
A Teacher’s Plan for Elon Musk’s $44 Billion
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I wish I didn’t know the name Elon Musk. But when someone buys so much cultural influence, it’s tough to avoid hearing about how he shoots himself into space. His latest endeavor, buying Twitter for $44 billion, made me […]
Posted inOpinion
How Green Energy Can Transform Schools
It’s Time to Bring Education Infrastructure into the 21st Century Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! We were living in Houston in February 2021 when a string of disastrous winter weather hit. We watched as the entire state slowly shut down over the course of a […]
Posted inOpinion
Children Don’t Avoid “Divisive” Topics, And Neither Can We
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a primary teacher, I had interesting and sometimes challenging conversations on a regular basis. Young children do not limit their comments and questions to what’s “age-appropriate” or what is or isn’t “divisive.” They are trying to figure out […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Why You Should Try a No Cell Phone Policy in Your Classroom
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! If you want to try an interesting experiment, ask your students to turn up the volume on their cell phones and tally how many times in a class period their cell phones signal an alert. We tried it a […]