Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! The national teacher shortage is worsening with each passing day. The life-long, 30+ year teaching profession is a phenomenon that is nearly extinct. Teachers have more work and higher expectations now than ever before. Students study a more rigorous […]
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Love is a Battlefield: Building Relationships with Your Students
Love is a battlefield If “love Is a battlefield”, then the classroom is a tennis court! Cue Pat Benatar. We love our students, but not all of them the same—let’s just face it. That wouldn’t be fair to them; think about equality vs. equity. Love, of course, is shown in oh so many forms: romantic […]
I Left The Classroom for A Central Office Job…This is My Letter to My Former Students
Dear Students, I didn’t leave because of you. I don’t love you any less. I won’t stop thinking about you or missing you or hoping you are well. You know how much I love you. I won’t stop wondering about how you are doing or forget your sweet faces or devious antics. I can’t imagine life […]
Teaching is Really all About Love
It took me years to embrace this truth: teaching really is all about love. To all those cynics who immediately say there is more to it: yes, of course, the skills of a teacher extend beyond the heart. But nothing matters without love. Why is this so hard to accept? Even those of us who […]
Teaching Survival Skills for Dystopia: Love
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, it has become increasingly clear that we are entering an abnormal era of American history. The xenophobia, religious intolerance, and white supremacy, aren’t new to life in America. But, Donald Trump’s presidency has made many of us feel that the “moral arc of the universe” is bending away from […]
Elementary Educators Can (and Should!) Celebrate LGBT Pride Month
June isn’t just the last month of school for many of us. It is also Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. While teachers know teaching about diverse histories, cultures and identities should never be relegated to one month, I still welcome Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women’s History Month and Asian and Pacific […]