The COVID-19 pandemic forced American students, teachers, and families to move learning online. Unfortunately, the transition has been messy and revealed glaring disparities among populations. While remote education has been life-changing for some, it has been markedly challenging for lower-income communities. Inequities have long been present in the American education system. However, the pandemic has… Read More
With the COVID-19 pandemic going on, many educational institutions have resorted to holding online classes for the academic year. When it comes to online teaching, most teachers would want to familiarize themselves with their students and find ways to build trust between them. It’s one of the most effective ways to create discipline in your… Read More
It’s 9 a.m. Monday morning and you are logging into your first virtual learning session with your class of second graders. You are greeted by a few smiling faces, several blank screens, and some other random body parts. You encourage everyone to turn on their cameras and continue with your lesson. Instead of focusing, students… Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic has made remote education crucial. It was treated separately from traditional methods of education. People who wanted to save some time and look for flexibility chose online education and other forms of remote education as alternatives to traditional in-class lessons. Now, remote education is the only option available for many students and… Read More
Trauma is such a common experience in today’s world that almost all teachers encounter it, at least indirectly, in their classrooms. Even though I worked with academically successful young adults who, by and large, led stable lives, many had lived through traumatizing situations at home or in school. (According to the 2016 National Survey of… Read More
Recently, I went back to school for the first time in 20 years. Although I was at the university every day teaching until about two years ago and have often taken adult-education courses, I hadn’t been a student in a class for credit since 1997. (In case you’re wondering, I recently celebrated my third 28th… Read More
“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” —Albert Einstein, US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955), no original source given As news and social media make readily apparent today, almost any subject can be controversial. In fact, contentious debate has become an ersatz form of… Read More
Teaching online is not like working with students face to face. Instructors cannot rely on real-time feedback, such as students’ reactions and classroom atmosphere, to judge the effectiveness of an activity or indeed an entire lesson. A successful online experience depends on finding other means to connect with students. Teachers of online classes must see… Read More