Opinion
Teaching Opinion

As He Retires, Larry Ferlazzo Reflects on Decades of Teaching

By Lauren Santucci — July 11, 2025 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Ahead of his retirement after more than two decades in the classroom, California teacher and author Larry Ferlazzo sat down with Education Week to answer some questions and share his thoughts on the profession and the future of education.

Since 2010, he has been the curator and writer for the Education Week Opinion blog, Classroom Q & A With Larry Ferlazzo. He has included the contributions of more than a thousand educators in that space, reaching millions of readers on classroom management, instructional practice, and other challenges teachers face.

Ferlazzo has no plans to stop writing or teaching. He will continue his Education Week opinion blog and plans to be a volunteer teacher to incarcerated youth this fall.

How do you build relationships with students?

What is the value of inductive teaching?

What is the key to student motivation?

Related Tags:

Jaclyn Borowski, Director of Photography & Videography and Elizabeth Rich, Assistant Managing Editor, Opinion contributed to this opinion article.

Events

Jobs Regional K-12 Virtual Career Fair: DMV
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being & Movement Webinar
Building Resilient Students: Leadership Beyond the Classroom
How can schools build resilient, confident students? Join education leaders to explore new strategies for leadership and well-being.
Content provided by IMG Academy
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
Blueprints for the Future: Engineering Classrooms That Prepare Students for Careers
Explore how to build career-ready engineering programs in your high school with hands-on, real-world learning strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Opinion The Most Popular Instructional Strategies That Don't Work
Not every instructional approach is a winner. What to use and what to drop.
12 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching Opinion Students Don't Think School Matches Their Life Goals. How Can We Fix That?
Disengagement is not solved by overstuffed standards, tests, and pacing guides.
Robert C. Pianta
5 min read
a geometrical floor with the North Star in the center that becomes a space of listening. The colors of the floor enforce this idea of the meeting of the needs of education and students.
Francesca Gastone for Education Week
Teaching Opinion An Iranian American Educator Speaks From a Broken Heart
The Iranian children will carry their fear, confusion, and loss of safety forever.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching Opinion Is Teaching an Art or a Science?
Educators weigh in on the perennial debate.
11 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week