As I stood in my empty classroom surrounded by piles of boxes, I couldn’t help but wonder: what was I going to do now?

I am a primary school teacher from East Oxford, and last year I crocheted a “mini-me” of each child in my class as an end-of-year gift.

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.

I recently observed a high school science lesson that left me feeling like I had just swished some super-minty Listerine. I was refreshed. I was inspired…so much so, in fact, that I built and entire upcoming PD session around my takeaway from this lesson. I will return to this in just a moment.

Books used in the classroom remind us that education is most powerful when it affirms the dignity of every child. Paired with history, inquiry, and compassion, they create a foundation for inclusion that reaches far beyond the school walls.

Disciplinary problems were high, student achievement was low, and so was my patience. I knew I couldn’t do this again the following year, so I decided to change my approach.

We ask students questions all day long, but how do we know they are actually helping students learn and, more importantly, getting them to think?

Blending art and biology through hands-on paper-folding activities is a fun and unique way to engage students at the elementary level.

I believe it is vital for some form of investment education, along with the other elements of financial literacy, to exist in every school. In every classroom.