Teacher Voices

Under the common core, teachers will need more than just a toolkit of strategies for teaching vocabulary words—they’ll need deep understanding of how language works, says a teacher-educator. July 23, 2013 – Teacher

An upcoming first-year teacher describes the most valuable lessons she learned from the veteran teacher with whom she interned. July 22, 2013 – Teacher

An instructional coach offers some low-tech ideas for helping students develop collaboration and critical-thinking skills. July 16, 2013 – Teacher

For most high school students, Mark Twain's controversial masterpiece brings frustration and confusion rather than literary enthusiasm, says a writer and educator. July 10, 2013 – Teacher

Fourth grade teacher Lana Gundy says that she gained insight into her students’ application skills and interests by having them create their own math problems. July 9, 2013 – Teacher

Just because a teacher's absent doesn't mean the day has to be a waste, says Dave Orphal. These tips can help keep the class attentive and engaged with a substitute. July 2, 2013 – Teacher

A teacher offers six suggestions for giving students purposeful practice in oral communication, a focus of the common standards. June 25, 2013 – Teacher

In a discussion about what the common core means for educators, two teachers describe the ways they’ve seen it lead to “joyful learning.” June 18, 2013 – Teacher

Upon transferring to a school in Mexico that has insufficient records of students’ literacy levels, a teacher comes to see the value in assessments. June 18, 2013 – Teacher

Working with, and ultimately getting through to, a difficult 6th grader reminded this teacher that students' personal gains are often as important as their academic ones. June 11, 2013 – Teacher

Middle school teacher Hillary Greene wonders why there is so little intellectual exchange among educators—and what can be done about it. June 11, 2013 – Teacher

Mike Schmoker discusses the essential elements of effective lessons—and wonders why they are so often violated in schools today. June 4, 2013 – Teacher

Becoming a student again reminded this gifted-education teacher about some basic teaching musts, including providing clear directions and encouraging class camaraderie. June 3, 2013 – Teacher

Memphis teacher Casie Jones takes issue with a union leader's recent statement that even the best teachers can't make a difference in poor communities. May 29, 2013 – Teacher

Jennie Magiera, a digital learning expert, offers tips on using free platforms and tools that she says can help teachers jumpstart their own professional learning. May 29, 2013 – Teacher

Opening up the lines of communication with parents and listening to their advice can make it easier to teach and support their children, says a special education teacher. May 21, 2013 – Teacher

Ability grouping may get a bad rap, but research shows that it can be an effective, low-cost intervention when used with flexibility, says the president of the National Association for Gifted Children. May 20, 2013 – Teacher

Letting other educators and community members into their classrooms helps teachers see their students and practices with new eyes, says 6th grade teacher Jessica Cuthbertson. May 14, 2013 – Teacher

With school budgets tightening, teachers may feel even more pressure to spend their own money on classroom supplies. These tips can help keep the costs down to almost nothing, says a math teacher. May 8, 2013 – Teacher

Super-powered classrooms require hardworking, learning-oriented teachers, and support systems that fortify those teachers with the right tools, says the deputy director for effective teaching at the Gates Foundation. May 6, 2013 – Teacher

Laura Thomas argues that progressive educators have become so accustomed to the burden of instructional mandates that they may be missing opportunities presented by the common standards. May 1, 2013 – Teacher

Kimber Larson, a 6th grade teacher, shares the grading policy that she says transformed her classroom into a positive learning environment. April 30, 2013 – Teacher

A Los Angeles teacher shares how a program designed to create a greater college-going culture at school has also served as a vehicle for student voice and leadership. April 23, 2013 – Teacher

After trying out a co-teaching model with her school's reading specialist, a language arts teacher offers some lessons learned from the collaboration. April 17, 2013 – Teacher

A Boston-based teacher is faced with difficult decisions on how to approach the horrific recent bombings with her 7th graders. April 17, 2013 – Teacher

It's time to stop looking at technology in the classroom as something teachers must either embrace or reject, says a 5th grade teacher, and to start having a more nuanced conversation. April 15, 2013 – Teacher

Megan Allen, a 5th grade teacher in Florida, offers a confidence-boosting tip sheet for educators who are interested in getting involved in education policy and school decisionmaking. April 10, 2013 – Teacher

Teachers can turn things around for students with special needs by engaging them in activities based on their strengths instead of their weaknesses, says a neuroscience expert. April 9, 2013 – Teacher

A high school English teacher aims to counter his coworker's fears that the common-core literacy standards' focus on nonfiction will hinder students' creativity. April 3, 2013 – Teacher

Two middle school educators say their school's use of an online learning-management system has opened their classroom and transformed their teaching. April 3, 2013 – Teacher

Math teacher Josh Woodward says that leaving a traditional school environment for a blended-learning model has given him a new sense of career and instructional possibilities. March 27, 2013 – Teacher

Jennifer Barnett says that introducing initiatives to get students thinking about life after high school has had a dramatic effect on student involvement and engagement at her school. March 26, 2013 – Teacher

Literacy teacher Jessica Cuthbertson explains what losing her voice to laryngitis recently taught her about good teaching. March 20, 2013 – Teacher

A specialist in kinesthetic teaching says that the use of creative movement in the classroom can help students make deeper emotional and interpersonal connections to academic subjects. March 20, 2013 – Teacher

A teacher who has been in and out of the classroom for the last three years offers some pointers that have helped get her reading lessons back on track. March 13, 2013 – Teacher

Running shares many of the same characteristics as teaching and can help educators connect with their students on a different level, says Wendi Pillars. March 5, 2013 – Teacher

Educators need to be as deliberate about how young people develop values-based identities as they are about the academic standards they meet, write two experts in education leadership. February 27, 2013 – Teacher

High school English teacher Larry Ferlazzo offers advice on helping students develop more positive emotions, which he says can enhance their attention and higher-order thinking skills. February 26, 2013 – Teacher

Language arts teacher Rob Kriete examines the habits of successful teacher-learning cohorts. February 20, 2013 – Teacher

Giftedness was by no means the cause of the Newtown shootings, but the connection is something educators need to explore as part of efforts to help students who feel alone in the world, says a gifted-education teacher. February 12, 2013 – Teacher

After years of experimentation and reflection, English and digital media teacher Paul Barnwell offers his current take on smart—and not-so-smart—ways to use technology in the classroom. February 12, 2013 – Teacher

English teacher Nathan Sun-Kleinberger says older students often need to be taught to recapture their creativity through exercises that encourage "divergent thinking." February 6, 2013 – Teacher

Teacher and policy advocate Megan Allen offers tips for teachers on how to balance their time and rediscover their passion for teaching. January 29, 2013 – Teacher

Writing teachers are uniquely poised to facilitate life-altering experiences for students by encouraging them to write their stories, says teacher Greg Graham. January 29, 2013 – Teacher

Veteran teacher Elizabeth Stein shares tips on bringing more meaning and value to data-driven instruction. January 22, 2013 – Teacher

Many teachers are worried they'll have to scratch poems from their syllabi under the common standards, but teacher Ben Curran says all that's needed is a shift in the way poetry is read and discussed. January 15, 2013 – Teacher

Inviting students to help make changes in their school can be a powerful exercise in practicing leadership, says teacher Jennifer Barnett. January 8, 2013 – Teacher

A high school English teacher vows to improve the image of her profession this year by sharing positive stories about her classroom with family, friends, and strangers. January 2, 2013 – Teacher

With the Common Core State Standards hovering, a middle school math teacher discusses her efforts to help her students reason abstractly and approach problems more systematically. December 31, 2012 – Teacher

A middle school teacher describes how she walked "a fine line" in answering her students' questions about the Sandy Hook school shooting. December 19, 2012 – Teacher

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