Enhanced Standard Certificate for Teacher Residents Once again, Texas is on the cutting edge of teacher recruitment and retention. On Friday, April 12, 2024, the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) led the country by becoming the first state to distinguish teachers prepared by vetted teacher residency programs. Those residents will bestow the distinction of […]
COVID
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The effects of holistic review on college admissions
COVID-19 swept the globe in 2020, resulting in the most profound disruption in the history of education through widespread school closures. Although the full extent of its effects continues to be understood, the immediate consequence on student learning was evident as we quickly recognized the shortcomings of remote learning. Studies consistently show the pandemic led […]
Posted inCOVID
And Now They Are Seniors: The Covid Class of 2024
“Ms Lamons, do you remember meeting me online? Honestly, that whole year is a bit of a blur.” It just hit me. I met my incoming seniors for the 2023-2024 school year for the first time online. I met them behind the infamous Black Square Boxes. I engaged with them for an entire school year […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Remote Learning was a Brave New World: A Dad’s Reflection
While polls show that moms typically carried the heaviest burden in supporting children’s remote learning, many dads were also working hard to help their children learn at home. Yes, I consider myself an active father. Yes, I am around more than my father was, but the credit is not entirely mine. While certain stigmas about […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Cultural Exchange Teachers in the United States: Supporting The Need for Effective Mentorship Programs
The Cultural Exchange Teacher program of the United States State Department has been in existence since 1967, where teachers from diverse countries like the Philippines, Ghana, Mexico, and China have the privilege and opportunities to experience professional and personal growth and development in various areas of teaching specialization – including mathematics, science, English, and special […]
Posted inMental Health
The Perfect Storm: How Standardized Testing and the Pandemic are Pushing Teachers to Substance Abuse
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! How many of you go home after a challenging and stressful day in the classroom and kick back with a few drinks or other substances to help you unwind? Are you finding this is happening more and more frequently? […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Struggling to Learn: How Decreasing SNAP Benefits Will Hurt Students
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! In the state that I teach in, one in three students depend on SNAP benefits for food. More than half of my state’s students come from low-income households. On a single teacher’s salary, my two children qualify for free […]
Posted inOpinion
What COVID Could Have Taught Us
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! The three-year anniversary of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic coincides with my birthday. I remember having a school potluck on that Friday, not knowing the very next day that we would be informed that we would not be […]