Why teacher’s professional issues are more important than student’s concerns when building effective professional learning communities. By Laura D. Brown Learning Styles, Collaborative Learning, Project-Based Learning (PBL) — these are just three of the many instructional approaches that I have been trained to implement during my twenty-two-year teaching career. All of the above-mentioned approaches have […]
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Posted inAsk a Teacher
Response To Intervention: One Teacher’s Story
A decade ago, I was the first classroom teacher at my elementary school to complete a round of RTI. The counselor, principal and I went into the process with confusion, determined to get a struggling third-grade student the help she needed. Since those early RTI days, I’ve provided tier II and III interventions and watched […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teaching Gender Equality in a High School Classroom
Following recent events, it’s impossible not to recognize how divided our nation has become. We as teachers have our own unique and individual opinions based on our own experiences and education, and so do our students. But what happens when events taking place are so prominent that it would be a disservice to students […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
When Your Administrator Doesn’t Like You
Have you ever felt like an administrator just doesn’t like you and that no matter what you do, he/she will determine you’re doing it wrong? What do you do when that happens? Run for the hills? Kill them with kindness? Here are some common sense strategies for dealing with an administrator that simply doesn’t want […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Summer Break: An Antiquated Institution That Needs To Go
Summer break is an American institution. A time when students across the nation leave their intensive classes and venture off to the woods, the pool, the mountains, and the basement. For many students summer break has become synonymous with relaxation, spending time with their family and friends, camp, and heat waves. For educators, summer break […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
The State of STEM in U.S. Schools
I just got back from an exciting conference about the state of STEM in U.S. schools, sponsored by U.S. News and World Report! As an AVID teacher and coordinator, I was invited to San Diego to learn more about how to include STEM into AVID’s college and career readiness program. STEM is an acronym representing […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Teacher Appreciation Week
Ah, Teacher Appreciation Week. When we reach this time of the year, I often glance at this limerick I wrote my first year of teaching: Oh my, it’s been quite the yearI’ve been tested ear-to-earDaily by these studentsWho tried my patienceAt least school year’s end is near! While I wrote it mostly in jest, it […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Watch from the Balcony, Lead on the Floor
Readers were recently asked to complete the following survey: Below is a list of 10 characteristics of successful schools. Which 3 do you think are most important? A comprehensive approach to the needs of the whole child A relentless focus on standards and having students meet them Very high expectations for student behavior Multi-modal, hands-on […]