Keeping schools safe is the number one concern of everyone involved in education.  Without safe classrooms and schools, students cannot learn.  And if the worst were to happen, students can be lives can be threatened. 

Schools have taken this very seriously as the number of violent incidents in schools has increased.  Layers and layers of specific safety measures are now part of the day to day operation of schools. 

The impact this has on students and teachers is probably a good topic for another time. For our discussion, it is important to note that state and national agencies have taken a much broader view of keeping our schools safer than some of the visible measures that impact the daily lives of teachers.  This support has given school districts a framework for how to think about crisis planning.

Teachers vacate positions and the teaching profession for many different reasons. In our region, teachers are hard to come by and positions are often difficult to fill. As a result, all schools should consider the best ways to not only recruit great teachers, but to also retain the ones that we already have.

As we start to think about how we could better retain teachers, we usually think first about our pay scale. Teacher contracts and pay scales are, for the most part, not very flexible. In larger urban areas, the market demand for teachers is much higher than the supply. Pay differences aren’t big enough to persuade teachers to come or to stay, so there must be other intangibles they can be used in order to recruit and retain the best of the best.

There are so many “things” in a classroom. And no, we are not calling our students things. Consider all the supplies, textbooks, technology tools, cleaning supplies, and visuals on the wall—and this doesn’t even get us started on the living things in the room. 

I have written in the past about how complex our classrooms are. This is a real challenge for our teachers and, I feel, adds to their stress, burnout, and sometimes their eventual departure from the profession. There are many solutions to help with this, but the one we will focus on for this article is automation.

Technology has allowed for us to automate more and more of our processes. The advantage of this is that we don’t have to think as much about the mundane and routine tasks that we need to complete. The disadvantage of this is that, at times, we think we can automate everything. Education cannot be automated—regardless of how strong the technology is. The relationship between a teacher and a student is the foundation of the student’s learning; without this relationship, learning can’t happen in the same way.

There are some people in our country who claim that public schools have a monopoly on the educational market. I personally believe that nothing could be further from the truth.

Public schools are the primary means of educating students in the U.S. Despite this fact, the past decade has seen a significant increase in students attending private and charter schools or being homeschooled. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (a division of the U.S. Department of Education), the number of students enrolled in public school has dropped from 74% to 69% since 1999. Enrollment for charter schools and homeschooling has increased during this time, while private school enrollment has remained relatively flat.

With one in five children being affected by a mental health disorder, mental health is the most common health issue among children in the U.S. today. American students spend about one-sixth of their waking hours in school, which puts much of the weight of identifying and supporting students’ mental health on the shoulders of teachers. Teachers already hold so many torches in their schools and classrooms, and coming up with ideas to support students can be a challenging task.

While February is a short month, it still has so much to offer! Black History Month, Valentine's Day, and Presidents' Day provide an array of interesting facts, people, and history to weave into your lessons throughout the month.

Here is our collection of themed content to engage your students in February:

Bringing students on field trips to museums can be invaluable to their education, but if you don’t live in or near a major city, it can be difficult to find local museums to visit. Luckily, technology has made it possible to access world-class museums right from the comfort of your own classroom with digital learning resources. Because there are so many museums in the U.S. to search through for valuable resources, we’ve highlighted some of the most prestigious museums and their online resources below.

As teachers begin to think about applying for positions for next school year, it’s important to consider who the references on the application will be. As a former principal, I’ve looked through hundreds of resumes and applications. I’m not an HR expert, but here is my personal experience with how teachers can stand out when it comes to the references they use.

In no particular order, here are my thoughts on what applicants should consider when setting up references in their application:

Another one of the industry’s biggest events of the year, the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) Convention & Exposition, is coming up in just a couple of weeks on February 3–7. With thousands of educators, EdTech leaders, and technology enthusiasts slated to attend, you won’t want to miss TCEA 2020. Being held in Austin, Texas, this year’s conference and expo will offer dozens of opportunities for both professional development and pleasure.

Whether you’re looking to network with some of EdTech’s greatest innovators, discover this year’s best EdTech trends, or gain professional development at the conference, TCEA 2020 will be a valuable opportunity for all who attend.

There are clearly some potential barriers for teachers as they seek student input into their lesson design and curricular choices. It can feel overwhelming on the teacher’s end, and might be considered just one more thing for them to think about. It can be hard to trust that the students will actually be good co-pilots on the learning journey—even if all the desire in the world is present, it might be hard to know how to actually put it all into action.

Fortunately, we have a few models we can look to that will assist us in how this can look in the classroom. These concepts might seem divergent and like squeezing a round peg into a square hole, but even so, I think the philosophies are definitely worth considering for every teacher.