Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Reflecting On The Future When I was in school, I do not recall learning much about careers, let alone doing any career exploration. I went from high school directly to college, completely unaware of what I wanted to do […]
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Forget College Readiness, We Need Citizenship Readiness
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! When I started teaching high school English twenty years ago, my main focus was on preparing my students for college. It took me years of teaching, parenthood, a graduate degree, and personal distress about our national politics to finally […]
The Revolution is Coming and Teachers Won’t Be Replaced
As schools across the country grapple with implementing online instruction, conversations about the future of education abound. So, it was no surprise when my buddy sent me this podcast: How To Test Out of College While You’re Still in High School. It makes the case that college is frivolous and with some minor efforts and […]
As a Teacher and Michigan State University Alum, I’m Embarrassed and Hurt
When I decided to attend Michigan State University in the spring of my Senior year, I was beyond excited. I was a first-gen college student, couldn’t wait to get out of my parents’ house, and was looking forward to everything MSU had to offer. Although I secretly felt pretty unprepared, I was confident enough in […]
3 Steps to Helping Students Develop College-Ready Writing Skills
Teachers are forever reminding their students that what’s going on in their classrooms will be ‘important to know in high school and college’ – but how many students actually believe them? I remember one student who replied to me when I said that: “Yeah, that’s what they say every year. And it’s never really true […]
The STEM Revolution in Higher Education
I just got back from a fascinating conference about the state of STEM in U.S. schools, sponsored by U.S. News and World Report! I was compelled by the idea of a STEM revolution in higher education; as a middle school teacher, it really didn’t occur to me that colleges would be reacting in a similar […]
The Post’s ‘America’s Most Challenging High Schools’ List Is Deeply Troubling
As a College Counselor, a certain part of my world is dictated by ratings. I have parents and students who speak with me all the time asking about colleges that they have heard of because they may only appear in some ranking list. The most popular of the lists that I hear about is U.S. […]
I Tutored The Same College Student For 4 Years. Here’s What I Learned.
My school is about to graduate its sixth class of students. In independent school years, it is a young institution. By comparison, some of the older schools in my area have been around for 173 years and 328 years- a few more than our 11. As a young school, we have had to be particularly […]