Tag: teacher

Language teachers have an attitude problem, but not in the usual sense. If anything, we may care about our work too much. We love language, and we dream of passing this love on to our students. But they often have a different view on the matter. Many of them are studying a language not out of interest, but because...

With only a month of virtual teaching under my belt, this year is already the wildest year I’ve ever taught. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to overcome challenges at the beginning of a school year, but it is the first time I’ve burned the candle at both ends without even a solid grip on the candle. Like...

When schools pivoted to remote teaching in response to the pandemic, I was directing a large graduate program for in-service teachers of English learners (ELs). My colleagues and I were mentoring classroom teachers and EL specialists in our state. When you have a full view on teachers of ELs who are switching to remote instruction, you are quick to...

Rumi in the Language Classroom Series Vol 1 See Vol 2 of the series here See Vol 3 of the series here Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Mawlana "our master" and more popularly as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, philosopher, theologian, and Sufi originally from, Khorasan, Iran. Originally written in Persian, Rumi's works have made a dramatic impact on...

While no one was prepared for the pandemic shuttering of physical school buildings, K–12 teachers of less commonly taught languages were perhaps the most accustomed to having to find community beyond school walls. Unlike with other subjects taught in schools, there may not be an Arabic teacher in the same building, school system, or even the same county. It...

An alliance of leaders in colleges of education across the country have released a statement cautioning against many of the current trends for “reforming” how teachers are prepared for U.S. public schools. In the statement, “Seven Trends to Reform U.S. Teacher Education, and the Need to Address Systemic Injustices,“ over 350 deans and other leaders called for a significant...

Continued support after initial professional learning is essential to see gains in student achievement. A report on effective professional development from the U.S. Department of Education stated that when there are at least 49 hours of professional learning, student achievement on state standardized tests increased by at least 21 percentile points. However, when teachers participated in 14 hours or...

Dianne Henderson and Gene Kerns offer practical strategies to help all students reap the benefits of reading A new report says that nearly half of kids read for less than 15 minutes per day. No skill is more essential to students than reading. Every other domain of learning plays off our literacy abilities. If students are strong readers, everything else...

It has only been in the last decade or so that dyslexia has been recognized as a legitimate issue. In the past, dyslexia has been ignored, discounted, or morphed to fit under existing learning disabilities. With further research and clear evidence, it’s becoming not only recognized and understood but finally addressed in education. The movement is slow but powerful. States are beginning to compile...