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.

Like many of my students, I too use digital devices in my daily personal life, but the enormous piles of notes and paper combined with the constant fighting with the students to put their gadgets away drove me to reevaluate how I could use those very gadgets to my advantage.

A day as a teacher is filled with unpredictability, split-second decisions, and a go-go-go mentality that begins as soon as students set foot in the building. In a day like that, a meeting is a brief respite.

I search, “Talking to children about racialized violence.” I know experts say children are never too young to talk about race, but none of them have a lesson plan for me.

We may believe we are creating inclusive, “multicultural” teaching environments, all while being completely unaware of the systemic racism that still impacts our students.

"Why read when you can watch the movie?" In my eight years as an educator, no other sentiment has been quite so crushing to hear from children.

In today’s diverse classrooms, fostering cultural awareness is essential in order to create inclusive and engaging learning environments

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.

It's nice to think of the Internet as a wonderful invention that has made our lives both richer and more efficient. It's a nice notion and it's an accurate one—the Internet has changed our lives for the better. We can now communicate with people from all four corners of the globe. We can share, swap, and gain as much knowledge as we could ever want or need. There are no negatives associated with instant knowledge—or are there?