I’ll begin posting new questions and answers in early September, and during the summer will be sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past five years. You can see all those collections from the first four years here.
Here are the ones I’ve posted so far:
This Year’s Most Popular Q & A Posts!
Student Motivation & Social Emotional Learning
Best Ways To Begin & End The School Year
Teaching English Language Learners
Today’s theme is on professional development. You can see the list following this excerpt from one of them:
* What Teachers Wish They ‘had Been Told’
Allison Marchetti, Rebekah O’Dell, Kathy Levy, Matthew R. Morris, Stuart O. Yager, Rita Platt and Larnette Snow finish off a three-part series on what teachers know now that they wish they knew then...
* ‘When I Started Teaching, I Wish I had Known...’
Linda Hoyt, Jenny Edwards, Mary Tedrow, and Vance L. Austin offer their suggestions about what they know now that they wish they had known then...
* What Educators Wish They Knew When They Began Teaching
Roxanna Elden, Dave Stuart Jr., Julia Thompson and Jennifer Gonzalez share what they wish they had known prior to becoming a teacher.
* Colleges of Ed Can Make “Lifetime Commitments” to Working Teachers
Benjamin Riley, Charis Anderson, Pia L Wong, Megan Allen, Mike Flynn and Jack Schneider share their ideas on how Colleges of Education can support working K-12 teachers.
* Our Teaching Mistakes & What We Learn From Them
Today, Roxanna Elden, Julia Thompson, Ekuwah Moses, Jenny Edwards, Kevin Parr and Leslie Blauman bare their souls to the world as they write about their biggest teaching mistakes.
* Making Mistakes & Learning From Them - Part Two
Today’s post includes responses from PJ Caposey, Jennifer Gonzalez, Arpine Ovsepyan, Marcy Webb, Marie Levey-Pabst, Vance L. Austin, and Steven Anderson. I’ve also included comments from readers.
* New Teacher Advice - ‘Hold On To Your Optimism & Idealism’
Allison Zmuda, Jenny Edwards, Kelly Young, Maurice J. Elias, and Emily Geltz contribute their guest responses sharing advice new teachers, and many readers do the same.
* Advice to New Teachers From Veterans
Five veteran educators -- Valeria Brown, Julia Thompson, Roxanna Elden, Sean McComb and Megan Allen -- share advice they wish they had at the beginning of their careers.
* Focusing ‘More On What Goes Right Than On What Goes Wrong’
Rebecca Mieliwocki, Allen Mendler, Jennifer Orr, Mike Anderson, and Daniel Rechtschaffen contribute their suggestions on how teachers can maintain a sane balance between classroom and home life.
* Ways To Find The ‘Right Balance’ Between School & Home
Educators Renee Moore, Debbie Silver, Julia Thompson and Vicki Davis provide us all with some advice on balancing teaching with a personal life.
* Teachers ‘Seek Relevance & Choice’ In Professional Development
This post includes responses from Roxanna Elden, Sally J. Zepeda, Christopher Lehman, Jennifer Abrams, PJ Caposey, Patricia Reynolds, and Sharon Milano. In addition, I’ve highlighted comments from readers. All make suggestions about how to make professional development more effective learning experiences.
* Follow-Up Is Critical For Successful Professional Development
This post shares commentaries on how to improve teacher professional development from educators Sean McComb, Robyn R. Jackson, Kelly Young, Paul Cancellieri, Jason Flom, and Barbara Blackburn.
* The Kind of Professional Development We Need - Part Two
Rick Wormeli continues sharing his professional development recommendations in Part Two of his essay.
* The Kind of Professional Development We Need
Rick Wormeli shares his suggestions for how to make professional development effective for teachers.
* ‘Write The Book You Wish You Had On Your Bookshelf’
This final post in a series on teachers writing books shares advice from Kimberly Carraway, Erik Palmer, Jeffrey Benson and Cathie E. West. In addition, I share a few comments from readers.
* ‘Teachers Make Great Authors’
Allison Scott, Julia Thompson, and Vicki Davis share suggestions for teachers who would like to write a book and get it published. This is the second post in a three-part series.
* Educators Wanting To Write A Book ‘Must Go For It!’
Marjorie McAneny, Alan Sitomer, PJ Caposey and Steven Anderson share their suggestions for educators who want to write a book.
* Seven Strategies For Working With Student Teachers
This final post in the series features what I think is a particularly interesting combination -- a quest response from Ted Appel, the principal of the inner-city school where I teach, who describes the innovative requirements he insisted upon if a university was interested in placing student teachers with us; followed by a commentary from Pia Lindquist Wong, director of a university teaching credentials program who found that her ideas dovetailed with those of Ted’s - the two then developed a partnership.
* Letting Student Teachers ‘Sink or Swim’ Is ‘Not Permissible’
Michael Opitz and Michael Ford; PJ Caposey; Patty O’Grady; and Sally Zepeda all share their advice to student teachers and their supervisors.
* Part Three - Book Recommendations For Teachers
This post is the final one in this series, and features book recommendations from Grant Wiggins, John Norton, Barbara Blackburn, Amy Benjamin and Kevin Washburn, plus a zillion reader comments.
* More Book Recommendations For Teachers
Educators Megan Allen, Erin Klein, Jeffrey Zoul and Mike Fisher share their book recommendations for teachers in Part Two in a series.
* Book Recommendations For Teachers -- Part One
In Part One of this three-part series, education writer and parent Melinda D. Anderson shares her book recommendations for teachers, as do educator/authors Kelly Gallagher, Cathy Vatterott and Vicki Davis.
* More Advice On Teacher Attire
In this last post of a two-part series, educator Robyn R. Jackson shares her thoughts - particularly for women educators. I’m also publishing comments from many, many readers.
* Teachers Should Dress As Students’ Advocate, Not ‘Peer’
In Part One of a two-part series, four educators - Roxanna Elden, Renee Moore, Jane Fung, and Rebecca Mieliwocki - share their thoughts on how teachers should dress.
* Using ‘Self-Compassion’ to Recover From a Bad Day
In addition to sharing many comments from readers, educators Amy Benjamin and Dina Strasser post their thoughts in this post.
* A Bad Day In The Classroom ‘Will Pass’
This post includes contributions from Terry Thompson, Renee Moore and Cindi Rigsbee.
* Recover From Bad Days by Seeing ‘Disasters as Opportunities’
This column has quite a line-up, starting with Roxanna Elden, who is one of the most engaging and entertaining education writers around. Her contribution is followed by guest responses from two other exceptional educators and authors -- Allen Mendler and Julia Thompson.
* Male Teachers ‘Walking A Tight Rope’
New York City teacher José Vilson and Sacramento educator Alice Mercer share their responses.
* Wondering ‘How Gender Influences a Teacher’s Struggles & Successes’
This post features a guest response from educator Ray Salazar who, in addition to sharing his personal experiences and thoughts, interviewed other teachers, too.
* What Principals Look For In A Prospective Teacher
High School principal Eric Sheninger, Middle School principal Pete Hall, and Superintendent Pamela Moran share their advice.
I hope you’ve found this summary useful and, again, keep those questions coming!