Alan Jimenez is a first-grade teacher from Southeast Texas. He is currently planning to pursue a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Early Childhood Education. His focus as an educator is to provide a well-balanced education for all his students, particularly those from impoverished homes or those who do not […]
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When You Can’t Reach Every Student: A Different Type of Teacher Guilt
As we close out this school year, I feel overwhelmed with a different type of teacher guilt. Like everything else during this forced time of distance learning, the pandemic has exaggerated many teachers’ missions of the need to reach every student somehow. When we know that we have put forth the Herculean effort, when we […]
Mismatched: Your Brain Under Stress is a Must-Watch Documentary for Educators
The Documentary Daniel Kirsch, Ph.D., is the President of the American Institute of Stress and is a resident of my hometown of Mineral Wells, Texas. I have met him on a handful of occasions and recently had the opportunity to watch a documentary he had a hand in creating, along with documentary filmmaker Justin Smith, […]
The Learning Loss Discussion is Misguided
“How are we going to navigate learning loss?” “What about the students who aren’t having their needs met?” “What are we going to do about next school year?” Learning loss is the term of the year. It seems like everywhere you turn on the internet there is a discussion about the impacts of the […]
Opinion: Insurrection on a Black Educator’s Soul
By Tina Starks, Instructional Coach and policy fellow with Teach Plus CA Just two weeks after the failed coup at the Capitol and added trauma on the souls of Black people, Inauguration Day 2021 symbolized the restoration of hope and possibilities for a different America than what we had experienced for the last four years. […]
Now That Betsy Devos is on Her Way Out, Here Are 7 Picks for Her Replacement
There’s a lot to celebrate with Joe Biden’s election. The glass ceiling shattered when Madame Vice President Kamala Harris stepped onto the acceptance stage in suffragette white. Black women turned out in record numbers, truly changing the trajectory of the election (thanks, Stacey Abrams!) The fear that many of us lived with under Trump is […]
Reimagining Schools After COVID-19
Since March, the United States has been in a pandemic due to COVID-19. Over 189,000 lives have been lost to this virus. Our country is being led by an unfit leader who has appointed a Secretary of Education with no experience as a public educator. It almost seems like we’re in the twilight zone. Personally, […]
[Opinion] At Least I Didn’t Spill the Coffee: How Secretary Betsy DeVos’s Address to Educators Missed the Mark
The morning started well enough. One fried egg in coconut oil, a cup of hot Café Bustelo, and an open laptop. I was ready to make significant headway on my to-do list and get ahead of the work that quickly mounts when postponed. It was while plowing through my tasks that I saw Vice President […]