We know that when we have strong, positive relationships with students they learn more, classroom management is easier, and our work is more rewarding. Fort ...

“God, grant me patience, and give it to me right now!” This statement may capture our sentiment in response to dozens of situations we face. This is a time ...

Our immediate goal with each lesson is to have students absorb content they encounter and build skills with which they’re presented. We want them to be succ ...

Some decisions seem to be clear and straightforward, but they turn out to be anything but clear, straightforward, and surprise-free. We may be contemplating ...

There are times during the year when we may feel as though nothing is going right. Student behavior may be slipping, and students are not responding as we e ...

We know the importance and influence of our students’ social identity. Their social confidence determines how they interact with others in a variety of sett ...

The routines and seeming predictability of this time of the year can lead us to ignore the power and opportunities we have each day to shape the experiences ...

There appears to be a consensus that today’s students are lazier than students in the past. Certainly, it may seem that there are more students who are unmo ...

These are times when there’s much in our world that causes stress, frustration, and confusion. The past two years have been disrupted. Hopes that everything ...

These are tough times to be an educator. In fact, a considerable number of current educators indicate they would make a different career choice if making th ...

Most of us have probably heard of the term lean manufacturing, a process popularized by Toyota. The focus of lean manufacturing is to improve quality and re ...

The mental health of young people is a serious concern. We see evidence and hear reports about the nature and extent of the problem daily. Our students face ...

It‘s disheartening when we discover that the work students submitted as representative of their learning is not their own. They may have copied the work of ...

Every time of the year brings its challenges. This month is no exception. We can feel nostalgia with the change of seasons. Shorter hours of daylight can si ...

We may not think much about the concept of awe. When we do, though, we likely associate it with grand works of nature, like the Grand Canyon or Mount Everes ...

Bullying has been a part of our culture for a very long time. In some cases, bullying has even been seen as a rite of passage, from rituals associated with ...

The debate about whether cursive writing should be required learning in school has grown over the past few decades. The dominance of electronic communicatio ...

Among the two greatest challenges we face as we emerge from the pandemic are lagging academic achievement and student behavior. The pandemic harmed students ...

We know that students try harder, persist longer, and are more successful when they feel valued and accepted. Some students enjoy popularity among their pee ...

The disengagement we see from and in our students can take a variety of forms. Students may choose not to volunteer information or respond to our questions. ...

Misconceptions—the inaccurate or incomplete ideas or understanding of a concept, process, or phenomenon—are common in every discipline and aspect of life. W ...

In many cultures this is a time of the year when gifts are given to family, friends, colleagues, and others. The tradition generates feelings of generosity ...

The beginning of a new year is a special time. We are all given a new start, educators and students alike. We can let go of the missed opportunities, misste ...

In this pressure-packed, often confusing time, some people conflate gratitude with what we call toxic positivity. The two concepts and related behaviors cou ...

We may feel as though some aspects of our lives and work have returned to normal. Yet, we still face pressure and challenges to ensure that our students are ...

Teachers,  During this nationally celebrated week of teacher appreciation, we at The Master Teacher wanted to extend a heartfelt thank-you to each and ...

Students who’ve tried to learn a new concept or skill and have been unsuccessful often complain they’re not capable of learning what we ask. Their observati ...

These are times when we need to tap every strategy, technique, and advantage we can use to help our students succeed. In many ways young people are still fi ...

“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never harm me.” Of course, we know that this statement is not true, at least not the second part. Stick ...

When the influential people in our lives whom we respect notice unique characteristics and latent potential in us and share their observations, the impact c ...

Each minute in a school day is precious. We need students to catch up and be on track with their learning. Meanwhile, we feel pressure to add activities, el ...

Gamification in education typically refers to systems of incentives, experiences, competition, or other means to induce students to engage in learning. Gami ...

There are times when we find ourselves searching for energy and scrounging for motivation to power through work struggles. We might put off the task and hop ...

Dishearteningly, we have witnessed again the ultimate sacrifice by educators in protection of their students. Appropriately, the news media, national and st ...

Each student who enters our classroom has unique characteristics and needs that deserve our attention. However, exceptionally shy students can present a spe ...

When a student fails to finish and submit their work, are they demonstrating laziness? When a student bristles in response to a request to engage in a task, ...

As we near the final weeks of the school year, we might struggle to have students remain engaged in their learning. Yet, the time we have with students at t ...

The COVID pandemic changed our world in many ways. Some shifts, already apparent, influence our daily lives. Others are still emerging and may not be clear ...

Every year presents its own unique challenges and surprises. The next several months of this one will likely not be exceptions to that fact. The fall electi ...

Several weeks have passed since the beginning of the school year, with instructional processes in place, daily routines established, and behavior expectatio ...

Over the course of a school year, we engage with students under a wide variety of circumstances and on an extensive array of topics. There is much we want t ...

Earlier this fall, Lexia Learning released the results of a study on attitudes and perceptions of educators regarding their optimism about or the likelihood ...

Can you recall a teacher whose influence changed the way you think, ignited a passion, or opened in you a vision for what was possible and who you could be? ...

By this time of year, we have experienced a great deal. We have achieved our share of victories, accomplished many important tasks, and met several difficul ...

The shift from us being the teacher formally assigned to a class to students seeing us a “their” teacher happens over time. Small steps, micro-connections, ...

We live in a world that too often seems filled with negativity. Consequently, it can be difficult to maintain a positive attitude, find possibilities in the ...

When students struggle, it can be tempting to lower our expectations, especially when our thinking is that doing so will increase their opportunities for su ...

Many of us have been working with the same groups of students for months. We may feel as though we know them well, can anticipate their behavior when they&# ...

When school begins in the fall, we are likely to have on our team, in our grade level, or within our department one or more colleagues who are new to teachi ...

It goes without saying that we want our students to be motivated, take ownership of their learning, and practice persistence. Of course, we also want them t ...

Recall, if you can, a time when you had a powerful learning experience, an experience in which the way you thought, assumptions you made, and perspectives y ...

Might it be true that almost anyone can learn almost anything? And if it’s true, how might we approach the challenge of developing high levels of learning f ...

It can be easy to take for granted the value of elements in our lives that seem always to have been present. Running water, electricity, and heat are tangib ...

October can be a challenging month emotionally and motivationally. Some call it “slump month.” Summer seems like long ago. The end of the first grading peri ...

The realization that we have one or more difficult students in our class raises our levels of anxiety and stress, tests our patience, distracts our attentio ...

Much about teaching and learning feels intuitive and at least somewhat straightforward. After all, we as educators identify what we want students to learn, ...

We look for advantages when and where we can find them. Advantages can give us a head start and make success more likely. Advantages give us leverage to avo ...

It is not a secret that organizational cultures took a beating during the pandemic. The result for too many of us has been feelings of isolation, struggle t ...

Educators,  In this season of gratitude and reflection, we wanted to extend a heartfelt thank-you to each of you who hold such an integral place in our ...

We frequently read about, hear about, and otherwise experience how each generation approaches the concept of work with unique characteristics that set it ap ...

We are approaching the time of the school year when end-of-year activities are starting to occupy our planning and fill our to-do lists. In response, our an ...

During the morning math lesson, Jonnie notices an elaborate spider web in an upper corner of the room and asks how spiders can possibly create something so ...

We want others to see us as wise and knowledgeable people. We aspire to have students, colleagues, and other people in our lives look to us for information ...

There may have been a time when parents, family members, and other caregivers deferred to their child’s teacher and trusted that said teacher would do what ...

Recent research at the University of Missouri turns the spotlight regarding the benefits of positive teacher-student relationships from how they benefit stu ...

Grades play a complex, multifaceted role in most classrooms. While they are intended to communicate what students know and have learned, grades are often us ...

We know that during-the-year school transitions can be difficult for students. They enter an environment where social relationships largely have been establ ...

This has been a difficult year for everyone. As we approach the end, we can anticipate that some behaviors with which we have been dealing will increase in ...

Dear My Much Younger Self,   So many people are playing roles in your life right now that will shape who you become and what you will accomplish. Yet, ...

Curiosity can be a powerful force for discovery, engagement, and learning. When we allow, or even nudge, ourselves to wonder, probe, and question, we can ch ...

We hear a lot about the practices we should use to ensure learning for our students. Of course, we want our students to be successful and our instruction to ...

The future will demand more from our students than being able to follow directions, comply with expectations, and perform standardized tasks. Repetitive tas ...

Grades are such an integral part of schooling today that it can be difficult to imagine how schools could ever operate without them. Students are told that ...