With the school year beginning to wind down, I’ve been thinking of new ways to improve and update my curriculum for next year. What are some things that worked really well, and what are some things that I want to update? This got me thinking of ways to make my lessons even more hands-on and […]
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I Wish Everyone Knew How Long It Takes to Plan Great Lessons
Teachers know what perfect storms in our profession look like. When you’re a teacher, the colloquialism “when it rains it pours” just isn’t enough. When it rains, we feel like we’re antediluvian Noah – minus the ark. Often, the only way out of the flood is the feeling after a great lesson has seen its […]
Project-Based Learning: A User’s Guide
Over the past several decades, trends in education have come and gone or been resurrected with a new name. “Group work” is now called “cooperative learning.” Teacher-centered learning in the form of lecture and discussion in secondary education has taken a back seat to student-centered learning where students have a greater voice in determining how […]
Keeping Your Teaching Real: A Teacher’s Role
Education has slowly been changing over the last decade. Classrooms are becoming student-centered and the teacher’s role is changing. While I am very comfortable giving my students choice and voice in my classroom, sometimes I feel lost while they are working. What is my role? How do I know I am meeting their needs? How do […]
Using Popular Music in the Secondary Classroom
Teachers born between 1950 and 1980 makeup both the baby-boom generation and those known as “Generation X.” The music with which they grew up is a reflection of the historical periods that produced it – Vietnam, the Cold War, the Fall of Communism, September 11, 2001, and the events that followed. Teachers of social studies […]
Barbie Doll Teachers: Is That What We Want?
Should teachers be politically androgynous? Barbie Dolls, besides lacking correct anatomy and proportions, perpetually smile-at everything. Their vapid expressions often connote brainlessness or at least ignorance. In essence, Barbie Dolls are passive, happy toys. For some Americans, the ideal image of a teacher is similar to that of a Barbie Doll: pleasant, non-confrontational, amusing, and […]
Commentary: I am Wasting my Time Teaching about “Shithole” Countries!
From The Washington Post… “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers. Trump then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday. The president, […]
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 […]