Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Testing Frenzy Déjà Vu In recent news, NAEP scores fell dramatically due to COVID-19’s impact on learning. Every media outlet has a take on the situation, and everybody seems concerned. The Secretary of Education said recently that we all need to “raise the bar and […]
Fine Arts
Posted inInterviews
Why the Arts Matter in Schools
An Interview With Art Teacher, Jan Barzottini Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As arts programs continue to be cut across K-12 schools, I am reflecting on the importance of arts in education. In “Arts Integration in School: 10 Reasons Why It’s Important,” Sandra Larson […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Best Websites for K-5 Math Virtual Education
With the current state of affairs, learning has been moved online. Teachers and parents are having to homeschool and supplement their children’s instruction. Let’s not forget the importance of math in the process! Here some of the best websites from my experience for math instruction: Khan Academy: This is an exceptional site for learning various […]
Posted inFine Arts
Toni Morrison: Spilling over the Corners of Text
The developers of the Common Core, famed for limiting student readers to the “four corners of the text,” may not have selected to teach Toni Morrison novels to high school juniors or seniors. How could those admirers of New Criticism who believe that the student should not stray from a “painstakingly crafted text” ever negotiate […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Royal Wedding: Why Should We Care? One American Teacher’s Perspective
The news broke this morning: another school shooting, this time in Santa Fe, Texas. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to entertain the thought that this most recent massacre is the 22nd school shooting this year. I can’t bear to think that ten more families will be planning funerals and that […]
Posted inFine Arts
Theatre Education: What TV Gets Right…and What it Gets Wrong
I am writing this immediately following watching the first episode of Rise, a new series about a high school English teacher, Lou Mazzuchelli (played by Josh Radnor), who is achieving his dream of directing the school musical. It opens with him convincing his wife he needed to do this (just like in Glee) and then […]
Posted inElectives & Special Areas
Using Popular Music in the Secondary Classroom
Teachers born between 1950 and 1980 makeup both the baby-boom generation and those known as “Generation X.” The music with which they grew up is a reflection of the historical periods that produced it – Vietnam, the Cold War, the Fall of Communism, September 11, 2001, and the events that followed. Teachers of social studies […]
Posted inSchool Improvement
Students Need “Specials”
What is the practical purpose of those “specials” kids have in school- you know, P.E., Art, Music, Library? There is even another special to simply help kids keep up with the gadgets that find their way into schools: a Technology class! Do these specials interfere with the demands for academic proficiency? Do they make it […]