I have been out of school for four weeks. If I take my normal work day, which is from 7 am-5 pm, Monday through Friday, I have a total of 50 hours a week that I usually spend working. That totals to 200 hours that I’ve supposedly had off thus far. This is supposed to […]
Professional Development
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, Kindergarten, Professional Development, Teacher Branding
Empowering Yourself as an Expert
“Empowering teachers as experts” is the mission statement of The Educators Room. It is a powerful statement, but only true if we believe in ourselves as teachers. Many of us are made to feel like we are glorified babysitters, and we are belittled when we try to say what we feel, and when we hear […]
Posted inFeatured, Professional Development
What Salsa and Storytelling Taught Me about Teaching
About five months ago I took my wife on a date to a salsa dancing class. I like to dance at weddings or parties, but I would never list dancing as a hobby and certainly not a skill. But there I was, because of a deep love for my wife and a willingness to try […]
Posted inFeatured, Professional Development
Before that last school bell rings: How to sustain yourself as a professional
The end of a school year arrives with both relief and trepidation for many teachers. Some are limping toward the finish line after a Spring of relentless testing cycles, struggles to get students to the point of mastery, threats of budget shortfalls, and general burnout from 60+ hour work weeks for the last 10 months […]
Posted inFeatured, Professional Development
8 Social Media Must-Follows for English Language Arts Teachers
Since it’s the end of the school year, I am starting to look back over the year and evaluate what went well and what I would like to change or improve upon for next year. One of the first things I like to do each spring is to take inventory of my social media “follows.” […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Educational Apps, Professional Development
Teachers Need #Edcamps
Yesterday marks another celebratory moment at our public school. Our administration approved hosting a second annual inservice edcamp organized by our school tech integrationist. He scheduled workshops designed and run by educational expertise right here on our campus and helped host requested workshops for specific professional development. No outsiders involved, no forced learning. Personalized learning (PLP) works from the […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instructional Coach Files, Instructional Strategies, Middle School, Professional Development
The Problem in Urban Schools- Stop Teaching to the Test
“I mean even though I taught all of the standards last semester, but I don’t feel like my kids learned anything!” These were the words one of the teachers who I support as an Instructional Coach said to me as we sat in her classroom after school discussed all things teaching and learning. This wasn’t […]
Posted inElementary School, English Language Learners, Literacy, Professional Development, Uncategorized
Teaching Reading: No Magic Wand Required
Teaching children to read seems to be a mystery to everyone except primary school teachers. Someone recently asked: Is it true that it is not necessarily a teacher’s job to teach children to read? Is our job to give them the skills to make them better readers? Does any teacher have the time to teach […]