Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Every two to four years, we hear about the need to register young people to vote. Pundits bemoan the low turnout numbers that we see from 18 to 25-year-olds. Experts hypothesize about why they do not choose to exercise […]
Civics
Posted inOpinion
Florida’s MAGA Approach to Civics is Dangerous to Democracy
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I truly believe Ron DeSantis is on a one-man mission to put The Onion out of business. Each week it seems like there is a new stranger than fiction headline about the Florida governor’s policies. Most recently, I learned from EducationWeek that Gov. […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Get Ready to Teach About January 6th
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! On January 6, 2021, the students in the class of 2023 were sophomores in high school. They were probably recently back from winter break, sitting in class near the end of the day when rioters smashed the first windows smashed […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Patriotism and Politics: “In God We Trust” in Public Schools
As the 2019-2020 school year commences, the calendar might as well read the year 1956–the year President Eisenhower included “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and the national motto declared: “In God We Trust.” Although the futuristic year of 2020 is upon us, we continue to live in a time of anxiety […]
Posted inOpinion
Yes, America: Civic Ignorance & Poisonous Politics Go Hand in Hand
As young Americans start back to school, it is a good time to note that most Americans are largely ignorant—ignorant of their heritage, ignorant of their Constitution, ignorant of what actually “unites” the United States of America. A variety of surveys from the past decade about Americans’ civic knowledge, or lack thereof, acts as a […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Politics and Pedagogy of Immigration Policy
The national debate over the Trump Administration policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border has reached a fever pitch. Images and audio of crying children, traumatized by the removal of their parents to detention facilities while the children are detained in what amounts to cages, have preoccupied the national media and gripped […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
In Defense of Standardized Testing: A Reflection
Standardized testing: just the thought of these assessments strikes terror in the hearts of teachers. If only our students cared as much about how they score on state-mandated tests. Most of the educational literature reflects a negative view of standardized testing, but they serve an important purpose in American education: to indicate teacher effectiveness through […]
Posted inElectives & Special Areas
Black History Month and PBL: Ideas for Educators
As we enter February, 2018, schools across America will engage in activities celebrating Black History Month in the United States. There is a strong current in secondary education today where the goal is to move classroom activities away from teacher-centered activities toward “project-based learning” or PBL. This trend has specific criteria that ensure rigorous learning […]