Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! It is hard to talk about education these days without broaching the subject of the teacher shortage. While the idea of a teacher shortage has been a looming concern for years in some states, this time it is a […]
Opinion
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
The Dismantling of Public Education Part 1: The Pandemic
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! In March of 2020, when schools suddenly closed their doors with no idea of what the rest of the school year (or three for that matter) would look like, none of us could have predicted the immense impact on […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
We’re in the Midst of the Dismantling of Public Education: Episode 1
You may have noticed that education has truly become a topic at the forefront of many political conversations over the past few years. So, of course, you would think this would mean politicians would be discussing funding, impactful reform, and how to retain teachers. But, unfortunately, those topics are not at the top of the agenda-at least not in the way we hoped.
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Maus: The Text For Such a Time as This
I read Maus for the first time nearly 20 years ago. It was required reading for my adolescent literature class, one of the many English classes I took for my undergraduate education program. My professor hoped that we would value using a graphic novel in the English classroom. So I flew through Volume 1 and […]
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 inCOVID
We Don’t Want Schools Shut Down, But We Can’t Solve the COVID Pandemic
I’m writing this while sitting up in bed, trying to rest and relax 48 hours after a positive COVID test. Yes, I was vaccinated. Yes, I was boosted. Yes, I wore a mask while out in public most of the time. And no, I probably didn’t get it during the first day of school. Considering […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
Teach to the Rest: Three More Ways We Can Use the Pandemic to Transform Schools For the Better- Part 2
By Thomas Courtney Last year, I wrote about the opportunity we had to change the very way in which our schools operated. Twenty years ago, teaching to the test transformed our educational system. To many, the pandemic was simply the last piece of the puzzle that revealed the picture of what our schools had become. […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
We Should Seek to Make Our Schools Communities, Not Substitute Families
“Our school is just like a family.” Nearly every teacher has heard that phrase spoken at interviews or meetings, the comparison of the collective body of faculty, staff, and students to a close-knit family unit. While it is a common sentiment in small schools, I’ve heard plenty of teachers discuss how even their larger schools […]