Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! December 26 marks the 160th anniversary of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. In 1862, at the height of the Civil War, 38 Dakota men were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, on the day after Christmas. The events leading up to the war, […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Our Son’s Paraprofessional Changed Our Lives. Paraprofessionals Deserve Higher Pay.
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! A few days into this school year, I received a text from my husband. It was short, simple, and straight to the point: “It’s amazing the difference a qualified and responsible one-on-one aide makes in the lives of a […]
Posted inOpinion
As Gun Violence, School Shootings, and False Alarms Surge, Here’s What Educators Can Do
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Lockdown My 7th grader hid in her dark science classroom for two hours, huddled together with her friends. Several of them were crying. She was doing her best to console them. She said she heard slamming doors and running […]
Posted inOpinion
Being a Black Woman in Special Education is Traumatic. But We Can Change That
Education: To work in special education is never an easy feat. However, “educating within special education as a Black Woman is downright traumatic.” I thought this recently as I stood in the classroom, recalling countless conversations I’d had with my special education colleagues. Black students are referred and assigned to special education restrictive programming at a […]
Posted inOpinion
Why We Need More “Black Ms. Frizzles”
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! When I started teaching in the U.S. in 2018, I had a student, let’s call him ‘Eddie,’ who was unbelievably quirky, to say the least. In class, he always tucked in his shirt, speed-walked everywhere, was always on the […]
Posted inOpinion
Where Are All the Teachers of the Deaf?
Facing a Crisis for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students and the Profession Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Teachers continue to leave the educational profession at alarming rates – further exacerbating the teaching shortage in schools across the country. Under overwhelming teaching conditions, those who remain […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
What A Trip to Colombia Taught Me About the US Testing Frenzy
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Testing Frenzy Déjà Vu In recent news, NAEP scores fell dramatically due to COVID-19’s impact on learning. Every media outlet has a take on the situation, and everybody seems concerned. The Secretary of Education said recently that we all need to “raise the bar and […]
Posted inMental Health
Teachers and Students Need More Mental Breaks
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I’m sitting down to write this piece on the last official day of my fall break. Tomorrow will be the weekend rush to make sure that the house is ready for my kids and me to return to our […]