Secretary of Education Betsy Devos needs to know more about real schools and real teachers. Hell, just real people would be good. In calling for enforcement of standardized testing policies in public schools, during a public health crisis, she once again reveals a lack of connection to the lived reality of the victims of […]
COVID-19
5 Things I’ve Learned as a Student this Summer
It’s been a while since I was a student-specifically 4 years. However, I decided to take a course this summer to get qualified to teach Social Sciences, which has been a goal of mine for a while. With the current state of the world, this summer was the right time to take the step to […]
Staying Within Law: Special Education Teachers and IDEA
Although it’s been a rough start to the 20-2021 school year for most school districts in the United States, school districts are still required to meet the service needs of their special education students. Under IDEA, the Bible for Special Services, also known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act, denotes in detail what our special […]
Teaching in 2020: Where Everyone Gets a Choice, Except Teachers
As we continue to grapple with the changes that are impacting our communities, school reopening plans are at the forefront of most conversations. It is not hard to recognize that most everyone is flying by the seat of their pants as decisions are made and unmade with little notice. The issue of schools reopening continues […]
Finding Your Light in the Dark: Positivity During Pandemic Teaching
There are seven portables in a horseshoe shape around a patch of overgrown grass and two basketball courts with chain-link nets. Approaching the front gate, there are students checking in with security who say hello to me as I pass by. In the first portable is the front office, I spend my mornings here chatting […]
How Much More are Teachers Expected to Give?Â
There are not enough words to communicate the frustration teachers are feeling. America is still in the middle of a pandemic and it does not seem to be an end in sight. Across the nation, there is debate about whether schools should open for in-person learning. Here in Georgia, a school district moved too quickly […]
Here’s To Our First Year As Teachers During COVID-19
Guest Writer: Callie LaBarbera On Friday at 11:30 a.m. I stared at my cellphone willing the alert that our Governor was live to pop up on my screen. In NYS, I was not alone in doing this. Parents and teachers alike sat with bated breath waiting to hear if the Governor would give us the […]
Opinion: The White House Just Gave My School 8 Recommendations for Reopening Schools During COVID-19. Here’s Mine.
By Thomas Courtney President Donald J. Trump just declared that teachers and students should go back to school and he gave us eight pieces of advice–may be to help swallow this magical pill. For a national symptom that in his fumbling idiocy he caused in at least part, and for which he takes no responsibility. […]