It’s possible. — In a past era of teaching, principals would’ve likely handed teachers textbooks at the beginning of a year and told them to use them as they wish. That era is bygone, and schools are now inundated with high stakes accountability, increasing amounts of monitoring, and a dominant data culture that…

Since it precedes everything else. — Teachers have their work cut out for them. In today’s education world, this is especially true as the workload only gets heavier, more detailed, and increasingly tracked. Teacher retention is harder than ever to maintain, and it’s fair to say that even the most passionate educators are nearing their wit’s…

The name is turning heads, but what does it actually mean? — We know the drill. Some of us strived for all As, some of us for As or Bs, and some of us were happy with anything C and above. Competence is what we were all working for, and passing meant…well, competence. You’re moving to the next grade. You’re approved. But…

There’s weight to those “tired teacher” memes. — As growing demands of documentation, data tracking, and professional development occupy increasing amounts of teacher time, buzzwords like “self-care” and “work-life balance” are in high circulation among teacher communities. Rightfully so, as teacher burnout has been a factor in decreasing teacher retention, and a growing number of teachers are deciding…

How aligned is too aligned? — Disclaimer: These thoughts are written based on experience, not research. They’re also written after only four years of teaching secondary English, which may be a subject where autonomy levels affect teachers more. There are many highly experienced, more in depth voices who also speak on teacher autonomy. Here are some…