Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched Corsicana ISD Assistant Principal Candra Rogers describe the horrific incident that occurred at the middle school she leads. Like many educators across the nation, she went to diffuse a situation with an irate student who had become dangerously enraged in a behavior classroom. As the assistant […]
Back to School
What do you do to get ready for back-to-school? Do you buy more school supplies? Take a vacation? Or maybe start to decorate your classroom. Articles in this category deal with all the things that parents and teachers do to get ready for back-to-school season.
Posted inBack to School
Tips for Setting Up Classrooms on a Budget
When you are new to a school site, the first question you often ask is: How am I going to teach in an environment that isn’t suitable for children? I asked a dozen teachers I know for tips about setting up their classrooms on a budget. Their advice, like finding a box of unused pencils […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
How to Run a Fantastic Back-to-School Night
Back to school night. It comes every year, and it comes fast. It’s often the first chance you have to meet parents, share your vision of the year with them, and to open up your class showcasing the miracles you perform on a daily basis. It’s also stressful as all get out. But it doesn’t […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Seven Inspirational Tips for the New (or old!) Teacher
A Survival Primer for New Teachers Dear New Teacher, It was John Steinbeck who wrote in his novel East of Eden, “…the repository of art and science is the school, and the schoolteacher shields and carries the torch of learning and of beauty.” This first year, while you are mired in lesson planning, meetings, assessing, […]
Posted inBack to School
Abbott Elementary renewed for season 4
ABC announced a new season of Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning comedy Abbott Elementary, which will air on the night of October 9. It will be followed by the ABC News Studios docuseries, Scamanda. The workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers—and an oblivious principal—are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the […]
Posted inBack to School
Quiz| What do you know about July 4, 1776
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Posted inBack to School
Amplify black voices: The unconquerable journey of a Black educator
Amiri Baraka once said, “Hope is delicate suffering.” As educators, we can relate to this all too well. This system seems to be a never-ending road of suffering, constantly finding and losing hope as the pendulum of uncertainty plagues our broken systems. As a Black teacher, this suffering is amplified by the strength and hope […]
Posted inBack to School
Using Thrity Umrigar’s novels to tackle summer reading apathy
One way I suggest engaging eleventh and twelfth-grade readers — especially for summer reading assignments — involves assigning modern novels outside of the traditional canon. Two books by Thrity Umrigar, The Space Between Us (2005) and Honor (2022) created a high level of engagement in my AP English Literature students at the onset of the […]