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.

Teachers need support not only in understanding the tools, but also in managing the ethical, cultural, and emotional complexities that AI brings to the classroom.

To many in the field, a poor first year of teaching is the first step in an accepted, almost ritualistic career timeline. Perspectives on a teacher’s first year seem to have shifted, though, since my generation entered the workforce.

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.

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.

After 17 years of mostly reflection-free teaching, I’ve finally found the perfect space to force myself to stop, step back, and think about what I’m teaching. That place is Substack.

It has struck me over the past few years working with senior secondary school students that an ideal approach to guiding them through their academic year is to liken the student group to a sporting team that you are ‘coaching’ through to a successful season. For the past two and a half years, I have served as the Study Centre Supervisor and Academic Tutor [...]

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

Most people tend to assume that my students are capable of less-than-stellar academic performances because they have complicated lives outside school.