Caitlin Johnson is a K-5 teacher of multilingual learners in Minnesota. She loves learning about her students’ cultures and languages. She is currently studying to obtain her master’s degree in literacy education at Concordia University, St Paul. If you are a teacher, you’ve seen the look of a reluctant writer. You’ve probably witnessed the eye-rolling, […]
effective teachers
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Waging a More Civil War on Our Campuses is the New Norm
Waging a More Civil War on Our Campuses In my second year of teaching, I made the mistake of reading a book about a boy who was secretly a wizard to my class. The next afternoon, I found the back of my head scraping the bulletin board as a mother screamed, cursing me and Satan […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
In Defense of Defending the Literary Canon
B.H. James is the author of Parnucklian for Chocolate and co-author of A Sea of Troubles: Pairing Literary and Informational Texts to Address Social Inequality and of Method to the Madness: A Common Core Guide to Creating Critical Thinkers through the Study of Literature. He has taught English at Franklin High School in Stockton, CA since 2006. Every May, I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Student-Teaching Model Is Outdated: Here’s How We Can Do Better
This summer I spoke with three friends on three consecutive days. Each declared burnout in their field – one in business, one in transportation, the other in sales – and they were hearkening back to their college-aged dreams. All parents themselves. All great with kids. All looking to become teachers. But because of student-teaching, they […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Before You Check That Education Major Box …
by: Lorianne Palinkas I have taught middle school ELA for over twenty years. I have taught sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at all levels. My favorite thing about middle school is the magic of watching people come into our building as children and come outgrown! I wanted to be a teacher my whole life. […]
Posted inEnglish Language Learners
Paving the Way: Teacher Modeling to Improve Student Writing
by Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar, Ed.D. Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar is an associate English professor at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania teaching first-year writing and secondary education English classes. She previously worked for fifteen years as an English teacher in Delaware public schools. She received her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership with a Literacy Specialization from the […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers: Habit 3 – First Things First
My friend and former student-teacher called me the other week: “I need to vent to you for 10 minutes.” “We were supposed to get the vaccine once our meetings finished today. I received a text at 12:50p telling me the window for the vaccine was 1p-4p. As I was heading out the door, I received […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers: Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind
When I studied for my M.Ed. in Leadership, the lasting lesson that I pulled from my coursework was from a program called Understanding By Design (now called “Backward Design”). It essentially advocates effective teaching is to lesson plan by beginning with the outcome – whether for the year, unit, week, or lesson. Why? The most […]