Here’s the latest installment in a multiyear series in which educators offer advice—in six words or less—about teaching to other educators.
Kristen Engle is a proud middle-level educator currently in her 12th year of teaching in Fenton, Mo. She was also recognized in 2024 as the Association for Middle Level Education Educator of the Year:
Embrace mistakes as opportunities for growth.
Every day is a fresh start.
Connect learning experiences to students’ lives.
PJ Caposey is the superintendent of schools for Oregon Community Unit School District 220 in Illinois:
Scores matter; stories beyond them matter more.
One conversation changed a student’s path.
Alicia Burnette Whitley is a veteran English teacher and Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University whose research focuses on teacher education and critical media literacies:
Take the time you are owed.
Lela Horne, Ph.D., has 25 years of teaching experience in a variety of subjects in grades K-8:
Passion and humor weather every storm.
Listening to concerns de-escalates most complaints.
Marina Rodriguez is a bilingual coordinator for the bilingual education division at Texas A&M University and a former dual-language teacher in College Station, Texas:
See them. Hear them. Love them.
One connection can change a life.
Kwame Sarfo-Mensah is a 15-year veteran educator and the founder and CEO of Identity Talk Consulting LLC:
Growth can’t happen without critical reflection.
Susan Barber teaches Advanced Placement English Literature at Midtown High School in Atlanta and serves as co-chair of the AP literature development committee:
More work doesn’t equate to rigor.
Culture is as important as content.
Paul Emerich France is a national board-certified teacher, reading specialist and the author of five books on teaching:
Don't forget to release your scaffolds!
Thanks to Kristen, PJ, Alice, Lela, Marina, Kwame, Susan, and Paul for contributing their thoughts!
Today’s post answered this question:
Six-word stories are very popular. In six words, please share teacher-related advice you would offer other educators. Individual or multiple submissions are welcome from the same writer.
Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.
You can also contact me on X at @Larryferlazzo or on Bluesky at @larryferlazzo.bsky.social
Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email. And if you missed any of the highlights from the first 13 years of this blog, you can see a categorized list here.
