Literacy
How Teachers and Families Can Help Students Build Reading Fluency Over the Summer
Summer is a time for trying new things. Summer can also be a time for falling backward on academic skills like reading fluency. Research shows that kids in the primary grades typically return from...
student achievement
If Your Students Seem Unmotivated, Maybe It's Time to Go Deep on Why
Most of us don’t think about motivation on a day-to-day basis. It’s when we want to change habits or accomplish something new and bold that we once again become conscious of what it means to be...
Teaching
By the End of My Third Year, I Was in Therapy. We Must Start Taking Teachers' Emotional Health Seriously.
We all know the female elementary school teacher stereotype, perhaps best portrayed by the iconic Jessica Day from New Girl: bubby, cheerful, exquisitely put-together, good, meek, nice singer, nice...
Student Voice
To Defeat Implicit Bias, Try Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is a very powerful practice for accelerating important learning for Black, Brown, and low-income kids. It provides “voice and choice” for the students and it encourages new...
Charter Schools
I Knew I Wanted to Teach Kids Whose Backgrounds Looked Just Like Mine'
Nylah Newkirk, Da´Montae Neclos and Dionte Edmonds fall out laughing while describing the unforgettable morning when their math teacher taught them about quadrants. There’s nothing particularly funny...
Teaching
I Knew It Was Time to Leave My Classroom. I Hope 20 Years Was Enough.
Every tough decision comes with some measure of remorse for what could have been. As I finish out my 20th and final year as a teacher and prepare to move into an office to serve as my district’s...
