The day after celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, the State Board of Education in Florida introduced regulations restricting public funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, activities, and policies within the Florida College System (FCS). The new rule, adopted by the Board, prohibits institutions within the FCS from utilizing state or federal funds […]
Franchesca Warren
For fifteen years Franchesca taught English/Language Arts in two urban districts in Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee. Increasingly frustrated with decisions being made about public education from people who were not in the classroom, in 2012 she decided to start a blog about what it was really like to teach in public schools. In the last four years, The Educator's Room has grown to become the premiere source for resources, tools, and strategies for all things teaching and learning. To learn more about Franchesca Warren's work, please visit www.franchescalanewarren.com.
Posted inEnglish Language Learners
Using editorials to engage students in writing in middle and high school
As a high school English teacher, it was nothing for me to grade 120 five-paragraph essays every week. If it was a particularly rigorous unit, you find me wading through five to seven-page literary analysis in my Advanced Placement Literature class. If I was quick, I could have the papers graded within a two-week period. […]
Posted inPedagogy
The Building Blocks for Strong Middle and High School Writers
It was year five in my teaching career, and our principal called us in to bemoan our writing scores from the previous year. It was all the same buzzwords (fidelity, accountability, etc.), and I remember asking a question that changed my teaching beliefs. “If we want kids to be better writers, why aren’t we making […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Education, Labor Departments Announce New Efforts to Advance Teacher Preparation Programs
In a series of new efforts, the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor announced to expand Registered Apprenticeships for educators and invest in teacher preparation programs. The efforts focus on a key focus area of the Department of Education’s Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative to improve learning conditions by eliminating educator shortages. “Teacher apprenticeships are […]
Posted inEnglish Language Learners
The Headlines About Student Reading Levels are Sobering, But There’s Hope if We Change the Conditions for Kids
This morning I opened my laptop, and in my inbox, there were two article titles on reading levels that immediately gave me anxiety. Why Minnesotan kids lag in their reading level, and what can be done to help Half of elementary students not reading at grade level I immediately shut my laptop and went on […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teacher Branding 101: Use The Summer to Strategize on Your Brand
Teacher Branding: Summer vacation is a critical time for teachers. It is time to decompress from all of the stress of the school year and realign your teaching for the new school year. Many teachers use this time to travel and “catch up” with their families, while others use the time to earn money to […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
20 End of the School Year Memes That Only Teachers Will Understand
It’s the day that many of us teachers look forward to all year long- the last day of school. We’re tired from spending 180+ school days encouraging, disciplining, working with our students. So just like any great year, we have some end-of-the-year memes just for teachers.
Posted inBook Review
Celebrating Juneteenth With Accuracy: Books To Use With Your Students
Juneteenth (On My Own Holidays) June 19th, 1865, began as another hot day in Texas. Africans who were enslaved worked in fields, in barns, and in the homes of the white people who owned them. Then a message arrived. Juneteenth: Freedom! Slavery had ended! The Civil War had actually ended in April. It took two […]