It’s a Tuesday in March 2023; twelve “staffulty” (faculty and staff, including administrators, counselors, or technology) are gathered in a classroom for professional development. The book club leader, an English teacher, looks around at us and asks, “How much do you like to be confronted? It’s maybe a 2 for me, but I think I […]
professional development
Posted inOpinion
Educators Need Safe Spaces Too
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! “Thank you for helping me feel seen.” As educators who advocate for equity in education, some of us might expect this statement from a student. So would it surprise you that this was from a teacher? I recently returned […]
Posted inOpinion
Where’s the System of Support for Educators of Color?
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! We often discuss multi-tiered systems of support for students but rarely discuss multi-tiered systems of support for educators. Currently, we have significant teaching vacancies throughout the nation. The need is even greater with regard to teachers of color – […]
Posted inOpinion
The Best Summer PD? A Trip to a National Park
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! It was a cold December night in the west Texas desert. Our family bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves and walked in the dark along the red-lit pathway to the back of the Big Bend National Park visitor […]
Posted inPedagogy
How to Support Parents and Educators of Autistic Students
I remember the first student I taught who had been diagnosed with autism very well. “Ms. Lamons, you need to fix the date on the board.” “Ms. Lamons, I need to know what we are doing today.” “Ms. Lamons, I finished my work. Now, what do I do?” John had what some described as a […]
Posted inProfessional Development
Obstinance Has No Place in Teaching and Learning
For teachers, it is a fact of life that they teach lessons. One of those lessons is to help students grapple with new, difficult, and controversial ideas. To help students make sense and place those ideas within their own experiences is part of the job; I enjoy it. So, this week, as my frustrations in […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Getting Reading Right: The Education Week Online Summit
Getting Reading Right was the title and focus of the free online Education Week summit held on January 28, 2020. EdWeek reporters moderated with guest literacy specialists in six separate online chats framed by the results of the 2019 EdWeek Research Center survey on Early Reading Instruction. Online registered participants were eligible for a certificate […]
Posted inThe State of Education
Is School Boring? A Closer Look Into A Problem That Plagues Most Schools
I never found school boring when I was in high school. Challenging and frustrating? Yes, but never boring. So it always comes as a bit of a shock to me when students tell me how boring they find their high school classes today. The interesting thing about boring, of course, is that boring tends to […]