Related service professionals are a key component to many students’ success in education. For many students who receive special education services, related services, such as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, or hearing support, are a factor which helps to make his or her educational experiences more meaningful and worthwhile. Despite these opportunities, many teachers […]
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Posted inFrom the Front Lines
#MeToo – When Students Sexually Harass Teachers
In 2007, Â a black woman named Tarana Burke started the original Me Too movement. Â The Me Too Movement empowers victims of sexual assault and harassment to speak out in solidarity. Â In 2017, the movement gained steam when prominent white women began tweeting #MeToo and speaking out about their own stories of survival. Â Time Magazine even […]
Posted inBook Review
Using “Hamilton: The Musical” in the Classroom
Hamilton in the Classroom Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably heard of the Broadway musical Hamilton, the hip-hop and rap production of the life of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, written by an award-winning musical playwright, composer, and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda. Many of your students know the play well. In fact, […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Blueprint for Reform: Building the Foundation
Ever since the 2002 reauthorization of ESEA—otherwise known as No Child Left Behind—a day doesn’t pass without talk of education reform. The media tell us our schools are failing students, our teachers are exhausted, and our parents are dissatisfied.  As much as we can agree that our nation’s schools are struggling, it is not as […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
The Importance of Holocaust Education
History and government are central to the curriculum of a liberal education found in K-16 school systems. We teach these subjects to young people so that they can understand the world around them. These are critical disciplines as we prepare students to contribute to society in a meaningful way, and we engage students on these […]
Posted inSocial Studies
Why I Teach
In my family, teaching has become a time-honored tradition. My mother taught English, French, and German to high school students. She was a dedicated minister’s wife until she died of brain cancer in 1984. I became a social studies teacher in 1983, so I am now in the middle of my third decade in education. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Using Experts in My Classroom
When I think about using experts in the classroom, I think about an experience my fourth graders had last year. It was roughly a month into the school year. We had built a community of learning, but at the same time, we were still working on certain fundamentals like listening respectfully to the speaker. But […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
5 Strategies to Help Shy Students Succeed in Classroom Discussions
In my early years of teaching, I spent much of my time and energy focused on classroom management. Included in this was teaching students how to have a productive classroom discussion. I would plan mini-lessons about appropriate interjections, how to respond to someone who disagrees with your viewpoint (without being aggressively loud and using profanity), […]