Posted inConfessions of a Teacher

Teaching and Basketball:  Five key takeaways from the Women’s SEC Basketball Tournament that teachers must understand to cultivate successful students

If you watched the Women’s SEC Basketball Tournament this past weekend, you saw some of the league’s best female players engage in amazingly electrifying basketball in pursuit of the coveted SEC Championship title. Each team, regardless of seeding, showed up prepared to achieve one of the goals that have been on their vision boards since […]

Posted inPedagogy

Teaching Strategies for Gen Z Students

Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a teacher belonging to the older generations, Generation X, my personal style growing up featured Doc Martens boots, flannel shirts, and leather jackets. I have a deep fondness for classic arcade games such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders.  […]

Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

The Student-Teaching Model Is Outdated: Here’s How We Can Do Better

This summer I spoke with three friends on three consecutive days. Each declared burnout in their field – one in business, one in transportation, the other in sales – and they were hearkening back to their college-aged dreams. All parents themselves. All great with kids. All looking to become teachers. But because of student-teaching, they […]

Posted inConfessions of a Teacher

Teaching While White: How can a white suburban teacher lead students of color in their celebration of Black History?

The 2017–2018 school year has brought new opportunities for this veteran teacher, including the challenge of advising the Umoja Step Team, a cultural dance group at the suburban high school where I teach. Previously, I outlined my amazement with this group in my piece, “My Classroom is a Dance Floor,”   which highlighted my first […]