Teacher Talk
Teachers vs. Tech: Putting an Old Adversary to Good Use
By: Dr. Jerri Ward-Jackson | Aug 9, 2023
Since the first clunky cell phone rang in a silent classroom, technology’s place in education has been hotly debated. Does its potential for good outweigh its potential for disruption? Do kids need more screen time than they already get at home? Is educational technology actually beneficial or is it just a dazzling, counterproductive novelty?
To Dr. Jerri Ward-Jackson of the University of West Alabama’s College of ...
Giving Teachers the Tools and Training They Need to Better Support Behavior Management Efforts In the Classroom
By: Mary McLaughlin | Oct 9, 2020
A friend and I were enjoying one of our occasional FaceTime chats. We are both special education teachers and we are both from Michigan. She had called me to tell me she’d recently read about a decision made by the Sixth District Court of Appeals regarding a school district ...
Returning to School in the Midst of a Pandemic: One Teacher’s Perspective
By: Mary McLaughlin | Sep 9, 2020
The inevitable is upon us. After months and months of rising and falling data about the ill, the potentially ill, and the dead… being quarantined and wearing masks is still, advisably, the best option for prevention. So it would make sense, then, that we’re heading back to school.
Oh, wait...
I have ...
10 Podcasts To Prepare for Anything That Might Come Our Way in the 2020-21 School Year
By: Brian Miller | Aug 19, 2020
Years ago, when I wanted to be a writer, I read Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and was struck by one of his foundational truths: if you want to be able to write good stories, you need to be reading good stories - all the time.
I ...
Augmentative and Alternative Communication is Giving Non-Verbal Students a Voice in Mainstream Classrooms
By: Mary McLaughlin | Aug 17, 2020
How Integrating a Means of Communication Can Benefit Social and Academic Development for Special Needs Students
Within the next few weeks, students are expected to return to classrooms across America. With the Covid-19 pandemic leaving everybody scrambling for remote learning and teaching solutions just as the school year was coming to ...
Happy 30th Birthday to the Americans With Disabilities Act!
By: Mary McLaughlin | Jul 27, 2020
How in One Generation, Accessibility and Opportunity Became a Human Right for Everyone
Thirty years ago on July 26, President George H.W. Bush signed The Americans With Disabilities Act into law. The legislation literally removed physical barriers –and along with them certain social and employment barriers too – so people with ...
Valuable Lessons from Atari on How to Level-Up on Education Post-COVID-19
By: Brian Miller | Jun 11, 2020
“If I was going to school right now to be a teacher,” a colleague said during the COVID-19 lockdown, “I’d be thinking about doing something else.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because this isn’t teaching,” he said with no trace of a smile or humor anywhere on his face, “This is hell.”
I’d never heard ...
Bedside Manners and Battle Cries: Ways to End the Year Strong and Create Stories Worth Remembering
By: Brian Miller | May 13, 2020
“Every organization in the world is either going to emerge from this stronger as an organization, or weaker because of what they didn’t do.” - Patrick Lencioni
I’m not sure how you feel, but since local control has been handed over to communities and schools, a sort of clarity has emerged ...
3 + 3 = COVID19: Solutions for Remote Learning Under Stay-at-Home Orders
By: Jon Konen | Apr 30, 2020
We need to look ahead to August….NOW!
Though many of us are optimistic that students and staff will be back in the building in the fall, I worry we are not being proactive enough with our students and staff. We know what the virus can do and how it can devastate ...
How The CARES Act Will Impact K-12 Education During and After The Coronavirus Pandemic
By: Teacher.org Staff | Apr 20, 2020
While school teachers and administrators have been scrambling to adjust to widespread classroom shutdowns and a shift to online teaching during the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, they haven’t had a lot of time to think about the big picture or long-term impact on schools. Right now, it seems hard enough to ...
COVID-19 REALITY: 5 Reasons Why Teachers are Working Harder Now than They Ever Have
By: Jon Konen | Apr 13, 2020
I was absolutely appalled that there are meme’s and conversations posted about teachers not working right now. Yes, governors across the nation have issued school closures, but we are far from closed educationally!
Where does this stigma come from against educators? I feel like no matter what we do, we are ...