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? […]
COVID-19
Posted inMental Health
The Perfect Storm: How Standardized Testing and the Pandemic are Pushing Teachers to Substance Abuse
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! How many of you go home after a challenging and stressful day in the classroom and kick back with a few drinks or other substances to help you unwind? Are you finding this is happening more and more frequently? […]
Posted inMental Health
Teachers Need Trauma-Informed Practices Too
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I have recently talked to students who have experienced more death in the last few months than anyone should experience in a lifetime. I have had more friends who have lost loved ones, including young children than I can […]
Posted inMental Health
COVID-19 Prematurely Aged Student Brains: What Does it Mean for Educators
by Jeannette Odom Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Research on the effects of COVID-19 on adolescent brains is at the forefront of education today. A study from Stanford University suggests that the pandemic has physically altered adolescents’ brains, making their brains appear several years older than […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
I Just Want to Live and Teach
My Colleague and Friend is Immunocompromised Imagine wearing a mask for COVID-19 protection in school when everyone else has decided they are no longer needed. You wear protective latex gloves, your hands are dry, sore, and severely chapped from overwashing, and you fear for your life as you enter the classroom each day. Well, this […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Is It Fair to Test Learning Loss?
Executive director of FairTest weighs in on standardized testing reform Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! The Nation’s Report Card As I prepared to interview Harry Feder, the new executive director of FairTest, the latest Nation’s Report Card was published. As a result, our chat felt especially timely. […]
Posted inOpinion
I Thought This Would Be the Year “After” COVID, But I Was Wrong
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I sat in front of the computer, thinking about what I could come up with to keep my students engaged for this last week of school. The computer screen began to blur reminding me of the metaphorical “blur” of […]
Posted inMental Health
A Safe Space, A Safe Place
Finding New Ways to Build Student Relationships Built on Trust Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! It all began when I started to meet students one-on-one in breakout rooms during the pandemic. I wanted to “become more in touch with the mental health of some […]