Last year, I began a tradition of having educators share their best teaching advice—in six words or less.
Today’s post is the first in a new series of teachers continuing this tradition.
Tu Vuong is an educator who has worked as a consultant, teacher, and advocate for newcomer families and students. She is the author of Coming Họmẹ:
Set boundaries and protect your joy.
Greet each student every single day.
Being an ally comes with action.
Holly Spinelli is an English teacher at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley, N.Y., and an adjunct instructor at SUNY Orange County Community College:
Mistakes happen. Own them. Repair harm.
Center joy. Students will cherish it.
Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi, M.Ed., is a veteran social studies educator, school leader, teacher coach, and now program director for Re-Imagining Migration:
Don’t burn bridges, people know people.
Give yourself some grace, you’re evolving.
Trust your instincts, value your worth.
Kanako Suwa (she/her) is a multilingual TCK (Third Culture Kid) turned international educator, currently working at Chiang Mai International School in Thailandas the English-as-an-additional-language coordinator. You can follow her on X at @kanakosuwa:
You can’t be the whole solution.
Take care of yourself before others.
Learn to say no to things.
Rocio del Castillo, a co-author of Teaching Reading in Spanish, is an administrator and professor who lives in Illinois and has recently co-founded Via Educational Consulting:
From Deficit-Thinking to an Asset-Based Pedagogy.
All teachers are language teachers.
Set high expectations to encourage success.
Julia Cloat is a co-author of Teaching Reading in Spanish and an associate superintendent who lives in northern Illinois and has recently co-founded Via Educational Consulting:
Institutional inequities exist - learn, advocate, change.
Sandy Mendoza is an EL immersion teacher and works with English-language learners in K-5:
Call parents before there are problems.
Let students learn from each other.
Crystal Watson is an educator located in Cincinnati:
Teach every child like they’re yours.
Make time for joy every day.
Every person has a unique story.
Keisha Rembert is an assistant professor/DEI coordinator for teacher preparation at National Louis University. Prior to entering teacher education, Keisha spent more than 15 years teaching middle school English and U.S. history:
Confront antiblackness to rewrite history’s narrative.
Leave sub plans; enjoy the day.
Unlearn hierarchy to co-create with students.
Thanks to everyone for contributing their thoughts!
Today’s guests 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 Twitter at @Larryferlazzo.
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