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.

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.

Do you remember the first time you entered the school library as a child? I do. There were books everywhere.

As a newer interventionist, I faced a formidable task: engage reluctant readers and address their needs with minimal resources for an entire 90 minutes.

Certain buzz words and topics come and go in the arena of education. Currently, the word to know is STEM, the acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math.

After my first week of being in a long-term occasional role, it became very clear to me that learning about being in the classroom is not the same as actually being in the classroom.

After 25 years in special education classrooms, I’ve learned something our current education system doesn’t always want to admit: the most important work students do each day often goes unseen.

The world is in the midst of a technological revolution that has surpassed expectations, and I’m witnessing firsthand how growing up in this digital age is impacting our students.

When introduced as a revision partner, ChatGPT can be a valuable classroom tool, encouraging students to think more deeply, expand their ideas, and strengthen the clarity and organization of their writing.