A Conversation with Award-Winning Educator and Recording Artist, MR Carter It’s no secret that more Black male educators are needed in the classroom. Nothing makes it more evident than the post that’s been floating around Facebook for years. It reads, “What grade were you in when you had your first Black male teacher?” Although I’m […]
Lanee Higgins
Lanee Higgins taught high school English and middle school ELA and AVID in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore County, Maryland. After seven years of teaching, she left the classroom in May 2021. Now Lanee is passionate about uplifting educators through her writing.
Posted inInterviews
A Q&A with Baltimore Teachers Union President, Diamonté Brown
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Recently unions have been a topic of discussion following the successful unionizing of Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in New York and Starbucks stores nationwide. In the education industry—where not outlawed— unions can be found in most places across the country. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Getting Honest About Teaching: An Interview with Honest Teacher Vibes
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Since the start of the pandemic, many educators have left the classroom or are considering leaving. Many cite poor management, staffing shortage, lack of respect, and class management as their reasons for leaving. Three weeks ago Briana Richardson, the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Finally An Afrofuturist Textbook!
An Interview With the Editor of Conjuring Worlds Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Afrofuturism is highly-desired, but frequently a missing puzzle piece in many English Language Arts curriculums. B. Sharise Moore, a veteran educator and author of Dr. Marvellus Djinn’s Odd Scholars, hopes to change […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
“This Book Saves Lives!” Why You Should Teach The Stars Beneath Our Feet.
In my eighth-grade English Language Arts classroom, reading was an experience. It was an opportunity to connect, express, discuss, motivate, and debate. No book demonstrated this more than The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore. There will be NO spoilers in this piece (well nothing that you can’t find out by reading the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
How VH1 Inspired the Way I Taught Novels
Maybe my millennial is showing, but VH1’s “Watch and Discuss” campaign had an incredible impact on how I taught novels in my grade 8 standard ELA class. I wondered, what if I took the same concept and applied it to reading in English class? I made reading a novel as engaging as watching a VH1 […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Please Stop Using Blaccent With Your Students
Probably one of the most dehumanizing aspects of my educational journey as both a student and an educator is the “blaccent” that non-Black educators use when addressing Black people. According to Dictionary.com, a “blaccent” is “the imitation of Black English by non-black people.” It’s an offensive mockery of Black culture. To my non-Black educators, stop […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Throw Your Perfect Attendance Award Away
When I reflect on my teaching career I am saddened by how much I put my attendance above my mental and physical health. Here are some examples. I wrote sub plans on the bathroom floor at three in the morning after bouts of diarrhea and chills. I screamed at an urgent care doctor, “Are you […]