Unless you have been living in the wilderness for the last several years, you know the hot new buzzword is AI (artificial intelligence). It is not even so much a buzzword anymore as it has become commonplace and has permeated every facet of our lives. From the workplace to home, AI has promised to make […]
professional development
Posted inWriting
Three things that made my writing professional development actually work
Elementary school is where a child’s love of writing formulates and blossoms. For some of those schools, including my Florida Title I school, writing instruction has become more complex and inconsistent. A survey I conducted about professional development with my teachers revealed that 69% of them dreaded teaching writing and wished they had more support. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Talk Shop Tuesdays: Ingrained Professional Development For Teachers and By Teachers
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 […]
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 […]