As an elementary school art teacher, it is my job to engage my students and get them thinking critically about what and how they create.

I avidly recall a second grade class that would excitedly huddle around my rocking chair for story time. Students scrambled around sliding chairs to the carpet where I read heartwarming and sometimes zany tales, they reminded me that story time was counted among the most meaningful and cherished moments of a child’s day. Story time is a child’s portal into endless worlds, kingdoms, and dimensions.

Over the years, I’ve developed the following steps to help myself remember the names of my students. These tips can be used by any type of teacher at any grade level.

Here is some helpful advice for educators just beginning the long journey to establishing a successful, effective technology classroom.

The height of the pandemic brought many moments of upheaval and uncertainty, but amidst the tensions, there were also moments of laughter.

It is my job to motivate and mold my students, to keep them engaged, to build reading and writing confidence in all who enter my virtual classroom.

As the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide approached in April 2014, I took it as an opportunity to teach my students about this horrific and tragic event.

The first six weeks of a new school year are essential. In middle school classrooms, those weeks are not just a warm-up. Rather, they are the foundation on which the entire school year is built.

I have lost count of the number of times I have been told that rules without relationships lead to rebellion. Yet today, relationships with students seem to be feared instead of embraced. Over the years, quite by accident, I have discovered that this precept from days gone by is critical to classroom rules and to learning itself. Relationships are an essential part of learning, especially relationships between teachers and students.