Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! On a sunny May morning in 2010, some of my high school students found a cat. It had died after apparently being hit by a car. Her body was just off the busy street in front of our school, […]
effective teachers
Posted inPedagogy
How to Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning Into Any Content Area
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Whether it’s unregulated and disruptive behavior or an overall malaise with regard to school, it’s clear that many kids are not all right, and parents and educators are taking notice. Some students are struggling to compensate for losses sustained over nearly […]
Posted inInterviews
A Q&A with Baltimore Teachers Union President, Diamonté Brown
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Recently unions have been a topic of discussion following the successful unionizing of Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in New York and Starbucks stores nationwide. In the education industry—where not outlawed— unions can be found in most places across the country. […]
Posted inPedagogy
The Secret Ingredients of Lesson Planning
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! This past Christmas, my family decided to organize our own version of the Great British Baking Show (or GBBS). We each had to make our own Signature dessert for the approval of three judges, my in-laws, and my oldest daughter. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Behind the Mask: Returning to School in the Midst of a Pandemic
We got the kids back. So why is it still so hard to reach them? Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Like many educators, I was excited when we managed to reopen our little Washington DC charter school last August. As middle school principal, I’d […]
Posted inPedagogy
How Background Knowledge Supports Reading Comprehension
Essential Components In part 1 of my series on effective literacy, I discussed the Science of Reading, the role of the brain when learning to read, and the importance of explicit phonics instruction when teaching reading. Explicit phonics instruction is critical when learning to read, but word recognition is not the only component that creates […]
Posted inOpinion
What Trevor Noah Can Teach America About Teachers
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Like many teachers, I have had to take a long, hard look at whether or not I had the capacity to stay in education. The past few years have tested my dedication to education more than any in my […]
Posted inPedagogy
Why I Stopped Using Writing Rubrics
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! In my English and writing courses, I always love to share the following Anne Lamott quote with students: “…writing needs to breathe and move.” To further expand on this quote, I explain that writing cannot be constricted in a […]