Every March, the NCAA March Madness showcases the best and brightest in women’s basketball to millions of viewers. And every year, principals and administrators observe teachers for at least 45 minutes to grade their effectiveness as teachers. This is such a high-stakes procedure, as anything can happen that would make the most effective teacher, look […]
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Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Is Public Education better off now than four years ago? The answer is complicated.
The looming presidential election this fall provides the kismet to see our last four years through the standard “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” while posing that same question to ourselves as public educators: Am I, as a teacher in America, better off now than I was four years ago? […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Collaborative Teaching? Evidence tells us it works
I came to the United States to teach during the height of the pandemic, where all students and teachers were teaching and learning online. It is in this platform of teaching, where I experienced daily interaction and collaboration among my colleagues on how to navigate teaching through the virtual world as this was something new […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Examining the role of privilege and audacity in stigmatizing parenting
It is a privilege to sit back and criticize someone’s parenting. And yet, as teachers, paraprofessionals, social workers, and school leaders, we often do just that. Criticize. Recently, there seems to be a reemergence of conversations on parenting in education. The blame game has been played for long enough and it’s time to stop. As […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Instruction & Curriculum
Teaching 102: How to detect and categorize educational rhetoric
In this series of posts, veteran teacher, guide teacher and induction mentor Thomas Courtney bridges the other gap that we don’t talk enough about. That gap, the difference between what we are trained to do in our credential program, what we are asked to do by our employer, what the families and students we serve […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Post Pandemic Teaching: Teachers take home trauma
Teachers can be traumatized, too. And, I’m not talking about dealing with students who “misbehave” or give them a hard time, although those times can be tough. I’m talking about the teachers who are in the trenches, educating the kids who carry heavy (and sometimes invisible) trauma on their shoulders on a daily basis. Our […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Case for More Accountability: It’s Time to Blame the Parents
As you read this headline, I know you cringed- so did I as I wrote it. But as I grapple with retiring after 25 years in the classroom due to student (and parent) misbehavior, it’s something that I feel uniquely qualified to say. There will be some people who will not hear what I’m saying, […]
Posted inBook Review
Whole Child, Whole Life: The Book Educators have been Asking for
Amidst the growing mental health crisis engulfing both our students and society, Stephanie Malia Krauss has written the book teachers have been asking for. Whole Child, Whole Life: 10 Ways to Help Kids Live, Learn and Strive is a 296-page mental health toolkit written to help teachers meet the diverse needs of each child. […]