Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As an English language arts teacher of many, many years, poetry has always been one of my favorite subjects to teach my students. Poetry brings out the best in students’ language abilities and challenges them to write in a way […]
Literacy
Posted inPedagogy
Use Kagan Strategies to Create Student-Centered Classroom
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! My students began to get a little “off” as the second semester approached in my classroom. Off task, off behaviorally, off academically – call it what you will, but they were not the cooperative, attentive fourth graders I had […]
Posted inPedagogy
We Put “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Trial
Books Are Meant to Be Discussed, Not Banned Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Last summer, I served on the jury of my first murder trial. We heard all kinds of griping testimony, viewed extensive forensic evidence, and witnessed dramatic outbursts from the defense lawyer, […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Your Students Deserve a Diverse Classroom Library. Here’s How to Set It Up.
Diverse Classroom Library: Our classroom libraries are in trouble. Just as more teachers are learning that their libraries need books that reflect their student populations, they also have to fight policies at the district and state levels that ban many of these same books from their libraries. Florida, for example, is banning certain materials in classroom libraries […]
Posted inOpinion
I’m a High School English Teacher. I’m Not Scared of ChatGPT
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I remember the first time I questioned whether a student paper was actually theirs. In an age before advanced plagiarism checkers, a colleague suggested that I Google a key phrase from the paper. I put the phrase in quotation […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Five Picture Books Students Will Love for Celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I remember sending my son to his first day of school with his new glasses. My anxiety was high, worrying about what the other students would say to him and how their comments would make him feel. Would they […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Coach Files, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Mathematics, Middle School, Pedagogy
They’re Not Lazy: A Closer Look at Students Who Refuse to Try
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As teachers, we’ve all seen it before. You’ve taught a lesson, modeled the practice together, and then all the students get started. Or, at least most of them do. Sitting there quietly, hoping not to get noticed, is a […]
Posted inOpinion
Mythical, Fictional, Make-Believe…as Long as They Ain’t Black
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a Black teacher who advocates for the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the heated debate about a Black Mermaid has piqued my interest on many levels. I recently discussed the issue with members of my African American Student Union […]