Michelle Pearson

Michelle Pearson is the 2011 Colorado State Teacher of the Year and a member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. She is is a middle school social studies teacher in the Adams 12 Five Star School District in Thornton, Colorado, where she has been teaching for 25 years.

Posts By Michelle Pearson

Washington D.C.

We Have to Teach About What Happened at the Capitol Yesterday

I sat yesterday after school watching the news, Twitter and my email, mortified by the actions unfolding in our nation’s capital (and across the nation), as Trump supporters arrived in D.C. to...

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COVID-19

As 2020 Comes to a Close, We Are Tired and Inspired

It was that kind of day. Parents and teachers know the one: the day before the holiday break. The day when all grades are due, when the students are cheering for a reprieve from their classes and...

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COVID-19

I Found Out One of My Students Tested Positive for COVID and My Heart Sank

I was so excited last week. Exhausted, like so many of us are, but just plain happy. As my students romped into my room, and I heard the laughter each day as they sanitized their hands and plopped...

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Teaching

20 Years After Columbine, I Still Have to Worry About My Students' Safety

Before I left school yesterday, I looked at my classroom. Not to check and make sure the floor was clean, or to look for coats left behind, water bottles on the floor, or rows askew. Rather it was to...

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Teaching

If You Really Want to Make America Great Again, Stop Ignoring Social Studies

It’s funny how a student can make you pause and think hard about something you teach. Recently, I didn’t just pause, I got smacked upside the head like an unexpected foul ball at baseball game. How?...

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Teaching

No Thanks, Mr. President. I Will Never Carry a Gun to School.

President Trump, I heard about your offer to allow teachers to carry guns in schools. You even offered us training to be an expert in the use of them, and we will get a bonus, too! That is a first...

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